Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
New Field (new + field)
Terms modified by New Field Selected AbstractsEstimating Canopy Structure in an Amazon Forest from Laser Range Finder and IKONOS Satellite Observations,BIOTROPICA, Issue 4 2002Gregory P. Asner ABSTRACT Canopy structural data can be used for biomass estimation and studies of carbon cycling, disturbance, energy balance, and hydrological processes in tropical forest ecosystems. Scarce information on canopy dimensions reflects the difficulties associated with measuring crown height, width, depth, and area in tall, humid tropical forests. New field and spaceborne observations provide an opportunity to acquire these measurements, but the accuracy and reliability of the methods are unknown. We used a handheld laser range finder to estimate tree crown height, diameter, and depth in a lowland tropical forest in the eastern Amazon, Brazil, for a sampling of 300 trees stratified by diameter at breast height (DBH). We found significant relationships between DBH and both tree height and crown diameter derived from the laser measurements. We also quantified changes in crown shape between tree height classes, finding a significant but weak positive trend between crown depth and width. We then compared the field-based measurements of crown diameter and area to estimates derived manually from panchromatic 0.8 m spatial resolution IKONOS satellite imagery. Median crown diameter derived from satellite observations was 78 percent greater than that derived from field-based laser measurements. The statistical distribution of crown diameters from IKONOS was biased toward larger trees, probably due to merging of smaller tree crowns, underestimation of understory trees, and overestimation of individual crown dimensions. The median crown area derived from IKONOS was 65 percent higher than the value modeled from field-based measurements. We conclude that manual interpretation of IKONOS satellite data did not accurately estimate distributions of tree crown dimensions in a tall tropical forest of eastern Amazonia. Other methods will be needed to more accurately estimate crown dimensions from high spatial resolution satellite imagery. [source] RD Lawrence Lecture 2008 Targeting GLP-1 release as a potential strategy for the therapy of Type 2 diabetesDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 8 2008F. M. Gribble Abstract Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) are gastrointestinal hormones that play an important role in stimulating postprandial insulin release from pancreatic ,-cells. Agents that either mimic GLP-1 or prevent its degradation are now available for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, and strategies to enhance endogenous GLP-1 release are under assessment. As intestinal peptides have a range of actions, including appetite regulation and coordination of fat metabolism, harnessing the enteric endocrine system is a promising new field for drug development. [source] THE NEW INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS , A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO ECONOMIC ANALYSISECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2008Eirik G. Furubotn The initial objective of the paper is to describe the way in which the term ,New Institutional Economics' (NIE) emerged in the literature and became the designation for a new field concerned with the study of various analytical techniques designed for the exploration of institutional phenomena. It is then shown how some of the more important of these techniques, transaction-cost economics, property-rights analysis and contract theory, have been applied in two central lines of neoinstitutional thought , the Williamsonian and the Northian. Criticisms of these two disparate theoretical positions on the NIE are considered and assessed. Next, a brief review of some of the empirical literature is undertaken so that the explanatory powers of NIE themes can be gauged. Finally, the paper offers a few general remarks on the present state of the NIE and its possible influence on the further development of economics. [source] Recent advances in the application of capillary electromigration methods for food analysis and FoodomicsELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 1 2010Miguel Herrero Abstract The use of capillary electromigration methods to analyze foods and food components is reviewed in this work. Papers that were published during the period April 2007 to March 2009 are included following the previous review by García-Cañas and Cifuentes (Electrophoresis, 2008, 29, 294,309). These works include the analysis of amino acids, biogenic amines, peptides, proteins, DNAs, carbohydrates, phenols, polyphenols, pigments, toxins, pesticides, vitamins, additives, small organic and inorganic ions and other compounds found in foods and beverages, as well as those applications of CE for monitoring food interactions and food processing. The use of microchips, CE-MS, chiral-CE as well as other foreseen trends in food analysis are also discussed including their possibilities in the very new field of Foodomics. [source] Controlled Synthesis of CdSe Nanowires by Solution,Liquid,Solid MethodADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 22 2009Zhen Li Abstract Semiconductor nanowires prepared by wet chemical methods are a relatively new field of 1D electronic systems, where the dimensions can be controlled by changing the reaction parameters using solution chemistry. Here, the solution,liquid,solid approach where the nanowire growth is governed by low-melting-point catalyst particles, such as Bi nanocrystals, is presented. In particular, the focus is on the preparation and characterization of CdSe nanowires, a material which serves a prototype structure for many kinds of low dimensional semiconductor systems. To investigate the influence of different reaction parameters on the structural and optical properties of the nanowires, a comprehensive synthetic study is presented, and the results are compared with those reported in literature. How the interplay between different reaction parameters affects the diameter, length, crystal structure, and the optical properties of the resultant nanowires are demonstrated. The structural properties are mainly determined by competing reaction pathways, such as the growth of Bi nanocatalysts, the formation and catalytic growth of nanowires, and the formation and uncatalytic growth of quantum dots. Systematic variation of the reaction parameters (e.g., molecular precursors, concentration and concentration ratios, organic ligands, or reaction time, and temperature) enables control of the nanowire diameter from 6 to 33,nm, while their length can be adjusted between several tens of nanometers and tens of micrometers. The obtained CdSe nanowires exhibit an admixture of wurtzite (W) and zinc blende (ZB) structure, which is investigated by X-ray diffraction. The diameter-dependent band gaps of these nanowires can be varied between 650 and 700,nm while their fluorescence intensities are mainly governed by the Cd/Se precursor ratio and the ligands used. [source] THE PANOPTICON'S CHANGING GEOGRAPHYGEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2007JEROME E. DOBSON ABSTRACT. Over the past two centuries, surveillance technology has advanced in three major spurts. In the first instance the surveillance instrument was a specially designed building, Bentham's Panopticon; in the second, a tightly controlled television network, Orwell's Big Brother; today, an electronic human-tracking service. Functionally, each technology provided total surveillance within the confines of its designated geographical coverage, but costs, geographical coverage, and benefits have changed dramatically through time. In less than a decade, costs have plummeted from hundreds of thousands of dollars per watched person per year for analog surveillance or tens of thousands of dollars for incarceration to mere hundreds of dollars for electronic human-tracking systems. Simultaneously, benefits to those being watched have increased enormously, so that individual and public resistence are minimized. The end result is a fertile new field of investigation for surveillance studies involving an endless variety of power relationships. Our literal, empirical approach to panopticism has yielded insights that might have been less obvious under the metaphorical approach that has dominated recent scholarly discourse. We conclude that both approaches,literal and metaphorical,are essential to understand what promises to be the greatest instrument of social change arising from the Information Revolution. We urge public and scholarly debate,local, national, and global,on this grand social experiment that has already begun without forethought. [source] It's Never Too Early To Ask QuestionsGERMAN RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009Jörg Hinrich Hacker Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Synthetic biology is a new field, but the opportunities and risks need to enter public debate now [source] Implementation of a stabilized finite element formulation for the incompressible Navier,Stokes equations based on a pressure gradient projectionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 4 2001Ramon Codina Abstract We discuss in this paper some implementation aspects of a finite element formulation for the incompressible Navier,Stokes equations which allows the use of equal order velocity,pressure interpolations. The method consists in introducing the projection of the pressure gradient and adding the difference between the pressure Laplacian and the divergence of this new field to the incompressibility equation, both multiplied by suitable algorithmic parameters. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss how to deal with the new variable in the implementation of the algorithm. Obviously, it could be treated as one extra unknown, either explicitly or as a condensed variable. However, we take for granted that the only way for the algorithm to be efficient is to uncouple it from the velocity,pressure calculation in one way or another. Here we discuss some iterative schemes to perform this uncoupling of the pressure gradient projection (PGP) from the calculation of the velocity and the pressure, both for the stationary and the transient Navier,Stokes equations. In the first case, the strategies analyzed refer to the interaction of the linearization loop and the iterative segregation of the PGP, whereas in the second the main dilemma concerns the explicit or implicit treatment of the PGP. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Promising Functional Materials Based on Ladder Polysiloxanes,ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 15 2008Qilong Zhou Abstract Preparation of real ladder polysiloxanes (LPSs), including both oxygen-bridged ladder polysilsesquioxanes (LPSQs) and organo-bridged ladder polysiloxanes (OLPSs), had been a great challenge to polymer chemists from 1960 until the successful synthesis of LPSs via the supramolecular architecture-directed stepwise coupling polymerization (SCP) in the early 1980s. This opened up a new field of LPS-based advanced materials. As key building blocks, LPSs are used to construct a variety of polysiloxanes with special steric configurations and functions, such as mesomorphic LPSs, tubular polysiloxanes (TPs), and pseudo-sieve-plate polysiloxanes (pseudo-SPSs). With excellent temperature and radiation resistance, good solubility, and fine optical and mechanical properties, all these polysiloxanes demonstrate very promising prospects in the advanced materials realm. Here, the synthesis of well-ordered LPSs is presented and features of fishbone-like and rowboat-like liquid crystalline polysiloxanes are discussed. Special emphasis is given to typical applications of LPSs, TPSs, and pseudo-SPSs in the areas of liquid crystal displays, microelectronics packaging, and nonlinear optical materials. [source] Plasma microRNAs are promising novel biomarkers for early detection of colorectal cancerINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 1 2010Zhaohui Huang Abstract MicroRNA (miRNA) opens up a new field for molecular diagnosis of cancer. However, the role of circulating miRNAs in plasma/serum in cancer diagnosis is not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether plasma miRNAs can be used as biomarkers for the early detection of colorectal carcinoma (CRC). We measured the levels of 12 miRNAs (miR-134, ,146a, ,17-3p, ,181d, ,191, ,221, ,222, ,223, ,25, ,29a, ,320a and ,92a) in plasma samples from patients with advanced colorectal neoplasia (carcinomas and advanced adenomas) and healthy controls using real-time RT-PCR. We found that plasma miR-29a and miR-92a have significant diagnostic value for advanced neoplasia. MiR-29a yielded an AUC (the areas under the ROC curve) of 0.844 and miR-92a yielded an AUC of 0.838 in discriminating CRC from controls. More importantly, these 2 miRNAs also could discriminate advanced adenomas from controls and yielded an AUC of 0.769 for miR-29a and 0.749 for miR-92a. Combined ROC analyses using these 2 miRNAs revealed an elevated AUC of 0.883 with 83.0% sensitivity and 84.7% specificity in discriminating CRC, and AUC of 0.773 with 73.0% sensitivity and 79.7% specificity in discriminating advanced adenomas. Collectively, these data suggest that plasma miR-29a and miR-92a have strong potential as novel noninvasive biomarkers for early detection of CRC. [source] Synthesis of Colloidal Photonic Crystals with High Nonlinear Optical Performance: Towards Efficient Second-Harmonic Generation with Centrosymmetric Structures,ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 22 2007A. Molinos-Gómez Chemically modified colloidal photonic crystals with high nonlinear optical performance have been prepared by a novel, very efficient solid-phase based synthesis, opening up a new field of nonlinear optical second-harmonic Generation with centrosymmetric organic structures (see figure). [source] CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS RESEARCH: A RESOURCE FOR COUPLE AND FAMILY THERAPISTSJOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 1 2004Susan S. Hendrick This article describes the relatively new field of close relationships research, offering a representative list of topics studied by relationships reseachers. Some of the common interests shared by both close relationships reseachers and couple and family therapists are described, with theshared emphasis on relationships as an anchor for both fields. Some representative love theories are discussed, and Love Styles theory and research are presented in considerable detail. A clinicalcase example indicates how love styles research may be employed to advantage by couple therapists, and the utility of other close relationships theories and measures for therapy is briefly discussed. [source] Philosophical Challenges for Researchers at the Interface between Neuroscience and EducationJOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, Issue 3-4 2008PAUL HOWARD-JONES This article examines how discussions around the new interdisciplinary research area combining neuroscience and education have brought into sharp relief differences in the philosophies of learning in these two areas. It considers the difficulties faced by those working at the interface between these two areas and, in particular, it focuses on the challenge of avoiding ,non-sense' when attempting to include the brain in educational argument. The paper relates common transgressions in sense-making with dualist and monist notions of the mind-brain relationship. It then extends a brain-mind-behaviour model from cognitive neuroscience to include a greater emphasis on social interaction and construction. This creates a tool for examining the potentially complex interrelationships between the different learning philosophies in this emerging new field. [source] The impact of obesity on skin disease and epidermal permeability barrier statusJOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY & VENEREOLOGY, Issue 2 2010B Guida Abstract Background, Obese subjects frequently show skin diseases. However, less attention has been paid to the impact of obesity on skin disorders until now. Objective, The purposes of this study are: to highlight the incidence of some dermatoses in obese subjects and to study the water barrier function of the obese skin using transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Methods, Sixty obese subjects and 20 normal weight volunteers were recruited. Obese group was further divided into three body mass index (BMI) classes: class I (BMI 30,34.9 kg/m2), class II (BMI 35,39.9 kg/m2) and class III (BMI 40 g/m2). All subjects attended dermatological examination for skin diseases. To assess barrier function, TEWL measurements were performed on the volar surface of the forearm using a tewameter. Results, The results of this study showed that: (i) obese subjects show a higher incidence of some dermatoses compared with normal-weight controls; in addition the dermatoses are more, frequent as BMI increases; (ii) the rate of TEWL is lower in obese subjects, than in the normal-weight subjects, particularly in patients with intra-abdominal obesity. Conclusion, Specific dermatoses as skin tags, striae distensae and plantar hyperkeratosis, could be considered as a cutaneous stigma of severe obesity. The low permeability of the skin to evaporative water loss is observed in obese subjects compared with normal weight control. Although the physiological mechanisms are still unknown, this finding has not been previously described and we believe that this may constitute a new field in the research on obesity. [source] Use of the ecological information system SynBioSys for the analysis of large datasetsJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 4 2007Joop H.J. Schaminée Abstract The rapid developments in computer techniques and the availability of large datasets open new perspectives for vegetation analysis aiming at better understanding of the ecology and functioning of ecosystems and underlying mechanisms. Information systems prove to be helpful tools in this new field. Such information systems may integrate different biological levels, viz. species, community and landscape. They incorporate a GIS platform for the visualization of the various layers of information, enabling the analysis of patterns and processes which relate the individual levels. An example of a newly developed information system is SynBioSys Europe, an initiative of the European Vegetation Survey (EVS). For the individual levels of the system, specific sources are available, notably national and regional Turboveg databases for the community level and data from the recently published European Map of Natural Vegetation for the landscape level. The structure of the system and its underlying databases allow user-defined queries. With regard to its application, such information systems may play a vital role in European nature planning, such as the implementation the EU-program Natura 2000. To illustrate the scope and perspectives of the program, some examples from The Netherlands are presented. They are dealing with long-term changes in grassland ecosystems, including shifts in distribution, floristic composition, and ecological indicator values. [source] Feminist Approaches to Middle English Religious Writing: The Cases of Margery Kempe and Julian of NorwichLITERATURE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2007Nancy Bradley Warren Feminist study of Middle English religious writings is a relatively new field, but it is a rich and well-developed one. Although the work of such pioneers as Eileen Edna Power set the stage in the early twentieth century, feminist scholarship of the corpus of medieval religious texts in English only emerged as a truly vibrant area of inquiry in the past twenty years. Indeed, the entry of such figures as Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich into the canon, marked iconically by their entries into the Norton Anthology of British Literature in 1986 and 1993 respectively, suggests at once how recent a scholarly development such work is and how strong an influence such scholarship has had on the study of Middle English literature. Using the cases of Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich as test cases, this essay explores the key debates that have driven and shaped feminist scholarship on Middle English religious texts over the past two decades, and it explores newly emergent trends. It examines the impact of psychoanalytic criticism on medieval feminist scholarship and interrogates the contributions made by scholars who embrace French feminist approaches. It addresses the paradigm shifts enacted by the ground-breaking work of Caroline Walker Bynum as well as the questions concerning gender and essentialism raised by her work. The importance of New Historicism in the field is also a key concern in the essay, as are new takes on historicist research, especially the work of scholars who are rethinking questions of historical periodization. [source] That Way Madness Lies: At the Intersection of Philosophy and Clinical PsychologyMETAPHILOSOPHY, Issue 5 2004Jennifer Mundale Abstract: I argue that philosophical practice is a clinically active and influential endeavor, with both positive (therapeutic) and negative (detrimental) psychological possibilities. Though some have explicitly taken the clinical aspects of philosophy into the therapeutic realm via the new field of philosophical counseling, I am interested in the clinical context of philosophers as philosophers, engaged in standard, philosophical pursuits. In arguing for the clinical implications of philosophical practice I consider the relation between philosophical despair and depression, the cognitive etiology of depression and other clinical disorders, selected DSM-IV entries, attribution theory, and cognitive therapy. [source] Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni (1756,1827) and the origins of modern meteorite researchMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue S9 2007Ursula B. Marvin These ideas violated two strongly held contemporary beliefs: 1) fragments of rock and metal do not fall from the sky, and 2) no small bodies exist in space beyond the Moon. From the beginning, Chladni was severely criticized for basing his hypotheses on historical eyewitness reports of falls, which others regarded as folk tales, and for taking gross liberties with the laws of physics. Ten years later, the study of fallen stones and irons was established as a valid field of investigation. Today, some scholars credit Chladni with founding meteoritics as a science; others regard his contributions as scarcely worthy of mention. Writings by his contemporaries suggest that Chladni's book alone would not have led to changes of prevailing theories; thus, he narrowly escaped the fate of those scientists who propose valid hypotheses prematurely. However, between 1794 and 1798, four falls of stones were witnessed and widely publicized. There followed a series of epoch-making analyses of fallen stones and "native irons" by the chemist Edward C. Howard and the mineralogist Jacques-Louis de Bournon. They showed that all the stones were much alike in texture and composition but significantly different from the Earth's known crustal rocks. Of primary importance was Howard's discovery of nickel in the irons and the metal grains of the stones. This linked the two as belonging to the same natural phenomenon. These chemical results, published in February 1802, persuaded some of the leading scientists in England, France, and Germany that bodies do fall from the sky. Within a few months, chemists in France reported similar results and a new field of study was inaugurated internationally, although opposition lingered on until April 1803, when nearly 3,000 stones fell at L'Aigle in Normandy and transformed the last skeptics into believers. Chladni immediately received full credit for his hypothesis of falls, but decades passed before his linking of falling bodies with fireballs received general acceptance. His hypothesis of their origin in cosmic space met with strong resistance from those who argued that stones formed within the Earth's atmosphere or were ejected by lunar volcanoes. After 1860, when both of these hypotheses were abandoned, there followed a century of debate between proponents of an interstellar versus a planetary origin. Not until the 1950s did conclusive evidence of their elliptical orbits establish meteorite parent bodies as members of the solar system. Thus, nearly 200 years passed before the questions of origin that Chladni raised finally were resolved. [source] Gene-environment interaction and obesityNUTRITION REVIEWS, Issue 12 2008Lu Qi The epidemic of obesity has become a major public health problem. Common-form obesity is underpinned by both environmental and genetic factors. Epidemiological studies have documented that increased intakes of energy and reduced consumption of high-fiber foods, as well as sedentary lifestyle, were among the major driving forces for the epidemic of obesity. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified several genes convincingly related to obesity risk, including the fat mass and obesity associated gene and the melanocortin-4 receptor gene. Testing gene-environment interaction is a relatively new field. This article reviews recent advances in identifying the genetic and environmental risk factors (lifestyle and diet) for obesity. The evidence for gene-environment interaction, especially from observational studies and randomized intervention trials, is examined specifically. Knowledge about the interplay between genetic and environmental components may facilitate the choice of more effective and specific measures for obesity prevention based on the personalized genetic make-up. [source] Toward a stoichiometric framework for evolutionary biologyOIKOS, Issue 1 2005Adam D. Kay Ecological stoichiometry, the study of the balance of energy and materials in living systems, may serve as a useful synthetic framework for evolutionary biology. Here, we review recent work that illustrates the power of a stoichiometric approach to evolution across multiple scales, and then point to important open questions that may chart the way forward in this new field. At the molecular level, stoichiometry links hereditary changes in the molecular composition of organisms to key phenotypic functions. At the level of evolutionary ecology, a simultaneous focus on the energetic and material underpinnings of evolutionary tradeoffs and transactions highlights the relationship between the cost of resource acquisition and the functional consequences of biochemical composition. At the macroevolutionary level, a stoichiometric perspective can better operationalize models of adaptive radiation and escalation, and elucidate links between evolutionary innovation and the development of global biogeochemical cycles. Because ecological stoichiometry focuses on the interaction of energetic and multiple material currencies, it should provide new opportunities for coupling evolutionary dynamics across scales from genomes to the biosphere. [source] A micro-simulation model of firms: Applications of concepts of the demography of the firmPAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2000Leo van Wissen Demography of the firm; regional economic growth; micro-simulation; firm formation; firm dissolution Abstract. Recently, there is an increasing demand in spatial planning for models based on the demographic concepts of birth and death of firms. This article describes the structure of a spatial demographic simulation model of firms, and its application within The Netherlands. The model structure is essentially of the familiar demographic cohort component type, where an initial cohort of firms ages in a number of discrete steps, and where in each step additions and subtractions to and from the population are modelled using birth, death and migration components. Apart from the central processes of birth, death and migration, the type of economic activity and firm size are highly important for understanding firm behaviour over time. The article describes the transition functions for each of the demographic components and for firm growth. In addition, some empirical results are presented of a number of model simulations in The Netherlands. The results were partly validated using observed economic demographic data. It is concluded that a substantial amount of work remains to be done in this new field. The model presented here has direct implications for the research agenda of the study of the demography of the firm. [source] Liposomes in investigative dermatologyPHOTODERMATOLOGY, PHOTOIMMUNOLOGY & PHOTOMEDICINE, Issue 5 2001Daniel B. Yarosh Liposomes are microscopic spheres, usually composed of amphiphilic phospholipids. They may be useful without skin penetration if they simply protect or sequester compounds that would otherwise be unstable in the formulation. Liposomes that remain on the skin surface are useful as light-absorbers, agents to deliver color or sunscreens, or as depots for timed-release. Liposomes that penetrate the stratum corneum have the potential to interact with living tissue. Topically applied liposomes can either mix with the stratum corneum lipid matrix or penetrate the stratum corneum by exploiting the lipid-water interface of the intercellular matrix. There are at least four major routes of entry into the skin: pores, hair follicles, columnular spaces and the lipid:water matrix between squames. A major force driving liposome penetration is the water gradient, and flexible liposomes are best able to exploit these delivery opportunities. Some liposomes release their contents extracellularly. Topical application of photosensitizers may be enhanced by encapsulation in liposomes. Higher and longer-lasting drug concentrations may be produced in localized areas of skin, particularly at disease sites where the stratum corneum and the skin barrier function are disrupted. The liposome membrane should be designed to capture lipophilic drugs in the membrane or hydrophilic drugs in the interior. Other types of liposomes can be engineered to be taken up by cells. Once inside cells, the lysosomal sac and clatherin-coated pit are the dead-end destinations for liposomes unless an escape path has been engineered into the liposome. A novel method has been developed to allow delivery into cells of the skin, by escape from the lysosomal sac. These liposomes have been used to topical deliver active DNA repair enzymes from liposomes into epidermal cells and to enhance DNA repair of UV-irradiated skin. From these studies a tremendous amount has been learned about the relationship of DNA damage and skin cancer. Both mutations and immunosuppression appear to be essential to skin cancer and both are induced by DNA damage. DNA damage produces immediate effects by inducing the expression of cytokines, which means that DNA damage can induce signaling in neighboring, undamaged cells. The repair of only a fraction of the DNA damage has a disproportionate effect on the biological responses, clearly demonstrating that not all DNA damage is equivalent. This technology demonstrates that biologically active proteins can be delivered into the cells of skin, and opens up a new field of correcting or enhancing skin cell metabolism to improve human health. [source] Quantum criticality in ultracold atoms on optical latticesPHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (B) BASIC SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue 9 2005Marcos Rigol Abstract In recent years degenerate quantum gases confined in optical lattices developed as a new field of research bridging the areas of quantum optics, atomic physics, and condensed matter physics. It offers the possibility of manipulating quantum many-body systems with an unprecedented flexibility, so that they can be considered as analog simulators of condensed matter systems. Particularly interesting is the possibility of creating strongly correlated bosonic or fermionic systems. We review here recent numerical simulations, where quantum critical behavior is studied both in and out of equilibrium. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Caenorhabditis elegans proteomics comes of agePROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 4 2010Yhong-Hee Shim Abstract Caenorhabditis elegans, a free-living soil nematode, is an ideal model system for studying various physiological problems relevant to human diseases. Despite its short history, C. elegans proteomics is receiving great attention in multiple research areas, including the genome annotation, major signaling pathways (e.g. TGF-, and insulin/IGF-1 signaling), verification of RNA interference-mediated gene targeting, aging, disease models, as well as peptidomic analysis of neuropeptides involved in behavior and locomotion. For example, a proteome-wide profiling of developmental and aging processes not only provides basic information necessary for constructing a molecular network, but also identifies important target proteins for chemical modulation. Although C. elegans has a simple body system and neural circuitry, it exhibits very complicated functions ranging from feeding to locomotion. Investigation of these functions through proteomic analysis of various C. elegans neuropeptides, some of which are not found in the predicted genome sequence, would open a new field of peptidomics. Given the importance of nematode infection in plants and mammalian pathogenesis pathways, proteomics could be applied to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying plant, or animal,nematode pathogenesis and to identify novel antinematodal drugs. Thus, C. elegans proteomics, in combination of other molecular, biological and genetic techniques, would provide a versatile new tool box for the systematic analysis of gene functions throughout the entire life cycle of this nematode. [source] The future of psychotherapy for mentally ill children and adolescentsTHE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 1-2 2009John S. March Objective:, Given striking advances in translational developmental neuroscience and its convergence with developmental psychopathology and developmental epidemiology, it is now clear that mental illnesses are best thought of as neurodevelopmental disorders. This simple fact has enormous implications for the nature and organization of psychotherapy for mentally ill children, adolescents and adults. Method:, This article reviews the ,trajectory' of psychosocial interventions in pediatric psychiatry, and makes some general predictions about where this field is heading over the next several decades. Results:, Driven largely by scientific advances in molecular, cellular and systems neuroscience, psychotherapy in the future will focus less on personal narratives and more on the developing brain. In place of disorders as intervention targets, modularized psychosocial treatment components derived from current cognitive-behavior therapies will target corresponding central nervous system (CNS) information processes and their functional behavioral consequences. Either preventive or rehabilitative, the goal of psychotherapy will be to promote development along typical developmental trajectories. In place of guilds, psychotherapy will be organized professionally much as physical therapy is organized today. As with other forms of increasingly personalized health care, internet-based delivery of psychotherapy will become commonplace. Conclusion:, Informed by the new field of translational developmental neuroscience, psychotherapy in the future will take aim at the developing brain in a service delivery model that closely resembles the place and role of psychosocial interventions in the rest of medicine. Getting there will be, as they say, interesting. [source] Public Health Ethics: The Voices of PractitionersTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 2003Ruth Gaare Bernheim ABSTRACT Public health ethics is emerging as a new field of inquiry, distinct not only from public health law, but also from traditional medical ethics and research ethics. Public health professional and scholarly attention is focusing on ways that ethical analysis and a new public health code of ethics can be a resource for health professionals working in the field. This article provides a preliminary exploration of the ethical issues faced by public health professionals in day-to-day practice and of the type of ethics education and support they believe may be helpful. [source] Getting the problem of endocrine disruption into focus: The need for a pause for thoughtAPMIS, Issue 12 2000JOHN ASHBY The study of chemically-induced endocrine disruption in mammals is a relatively new field of endeavour, and it has been assailed by an unusual level of disagreement among investigators regarding the developmental effects produced by chemicals in animals. This article discusses the several sources of uncertainty in endocrine toxicity studies, and the intrinsic variability of many of the key experimental parameters. It is concluded that current uncertainties are due to the absence of an extensive agreed control database for the developmental parameters under study, coupled to the established intrinsic variability of these parameters between strains/species of test animals and test protocols. Only when these factors are generally accepted and well studied will it be possible to design studies capable of distinguishing the possible subtle endocrine toxicity of chemicals and chance observations that cannot be independently reproduced. [source] Betti base-derived tetradentate ligand: synthesis and application in copper-catalyzed N -arylation of imidazolesAPPLIED ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 9 2009Bojie Weng Abstract Betti base-derived tetradentate ligand 2 has been successfully designed and synthesized through the condensation of Betti base with glyoxal. Its application in N -arylation of imidazoles has been investigated which opens a new field for application of Betti base derivatives in organic transformation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Group Well-Being: Morale from a Positive Psychology PerspectiveAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2008Christopher Peterson What makes life most worth living? The simplest summary of findings from the new field of positive psychology is that other people matter. It is within groups that we live, work, love, and play, and groups should therefore be a primary focus of researchers interested in health and well-being. In the present article, we propose morale as an important indicator of group well-being. We survey what is known about overall morale across a variety of groups: its meaning, measurement, enabling factors, and putative consequences. We sketch a future research agenda that would examine morale in multidimensional terms at both the individual and group levels and would pay particular attention to the positive outcomes associated with morale. Qu'est-ce qui fait que la vie vaut le plus la peine d'être vécue? Réduire à leur plus simple expression les résultats de ce nouveau domaine qu'est la psychologie positive revient à mentionner l'importance d'autrui. C'est dans des groupes que nous vivons, travaillons, aimons et jouons, et les groupes devraient donc être une préoccupation première pour les chercheurs concernés par la santé et le bien-être. Dans cet article, on avance l'idée que le moral est un indicateur majeur du bien-être des groupes. On recense ce qui est connu sur le moral en général dans divers types de groupes: sa signification, sa mesure, ses antécédents et ses conséquences supposées. On esquisse un futur programme de recherche qui appréhenderait le moral de façon multidimensionnelle aux niveaux à la fois individuel et groupal et accorderait une attention particulière aux retombées positives relevant du moral. [source] Assessment Center for Pilot Selection: Construct and Criterion Validity and the Impact of Assessor TypeAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2003Marc Damitz Cette recherche a examiné la validité d'un centre d'évaluation pour la sélection de pilotes. Les scores de N = 1,036 participants ont été utilisés pour étudier la validité de construit. Un sous-échantillon de participants performants a été suivi et les évaluations des pairs ont été retenus comme mesures du critère. Les résultats démontrent une première évidence de validité de construit et de critère pour cet outil d'évaluation des compétences interpersonnelles et liées à la performance. Par ailleurs, les résultats ont aussi montré que le type d'évaluateur (psychologue vs pilote) modère la validité prédictive des scores du centre d'évaluation. Cet effet "type d'évaluateur" dépend de la sorte de variables prédictives. Les résultats sont discutés et des implications pratiques sont suggérées. This study examined the validity of an assessment center in pilot selection as a new field of application. Assessment center ratings of N= 1,036 applicants were used to examine the construct validity. A subsample of successful applicants was followed up and peer ratings were chosen as criterion measures. The results provide first evidence of the construct and criterion validity of this assessment center approach for rating interpersonal and performance-related skills. Furthermore the type of assessor (psychologist versus pilot) moderates the predictive validity of the assessment center ratings. This type-of-assessor effect depends on the kind of predictor variables. The results are discussed and practical implications are suggested. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||