Shake Off Research Articles

Origin of the satellite observed on the high energy side of Lγ2,3 diagram lines

On the high energy side of the unresolved doublet Lγ23in the L spectra of some elements, a satellite Lγ2,3' has been reported in literature, which has been ascribed to the transition L1Mx − MxN2,3, on the basis of energy considerations alone, by earlier workers. In the present work, apart from energy, calculations have also been done for the intensity of the probable transitions which may give rise to the satellite in the elements from 40Zr to 47Ag and from 57La to 63Eu. Firstly, the probability of creation of a single hole K state has been calculated. Double hole state L1Mx is created by Coster-Kronig transitions (K − L1Mx) as well as by shake off process. The probabilities of these two processes have been calculated. The total probability of creation of the double hole state thus obtained has been statistically distributed among the 24 allowed transitions from the set of L1Mx levels. By taking each of the transitions as a Gaussian line, a composite spectrum has been computed. This theoretical spectrum has been compared with the available satellite energy data. The transitions which give rise to this satellite have thus been identified in the elements studied.

“Shake Off the Dust of Thy Feet”: The Rise and Fall of Mormon Ritual Cursing

“Shake Off the Dust of Thy Feet”: The Rise and Fall of Mormon Ritual Cursing

Transfer ionization in swift D+ on H2 collisions – dependence of the electron emission on the internuclear distance

In highly differential transfer ionization measurements with atomic targets the binary encounter and the shake off process can be distinguished by means of the electron longitudinal momentum. We observe a similar dependency for the case of a molecular target. In addition, a surprising dependence of electron emission on the internuclear distance is found.

Measuring Cell Cycle Progression Kinetics with Metabolic Labeling and Flow Cytometry

Precise control of the initiation and subsequent progression through the various phases of the cell cycle are of paramount importance in proliferating cells. Cell cycle division is an integral part of growth and reproduction and deregulation of key cell cycle components have been implicated in the precipitating events of carcinogenesis. Molecular agents in anti-cancer therapies frequently target biological pathways responsible for the regulation and coordination of cell cycle division. Although cell cycle kinetics tend to vary according to cell type, the distribution of cells amongst the four stages of the cell cycle is rather consistent within a particular cell line due to the consistent pattern of mitogen and growth factor expression. Genotoxic events and other cellular stressors can result in a temporary block of cell cycle progression, resulting in arrest or a temporary pause in a particular cell cycle phase to allow for instigation of the appropriate response mechanism. The ability to experimentally observe the behavior of a cell population with reference to their cell cycle progression stage is an important advance in cell biology. Common procedures such as mitotic shake off, differential centrifugation or flow cytometry-based sorting are used to isolate cells at specific stages of the cell cycle. These fractionated, cell cycle phase-enriched populations are then subjected to experimental treatments. Yield, purity and viability of the separated fractions can often be compromised using these physical separation methods. As well, the time lapse between separation of the cell populations and the start of experimental treatment, whereby the fractionated cells can progress from the selected cell cycle stage, can pose significant challenges in the successful implementation and interpretation of these experiments. Other approaches to study cell cycle stages include the use of chemicals to synchronize cells. Treatment of cells with chemical inhibitors of key metabolic processes for each cell cycle stage are useful in blocking the progression of the cell cycle to the next stage. For example, the ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor hydroxyurea halts cells at the G1/S juncture by limiting the supply of deoxynucleotides, the building blocks of DNA. Other notable chemicals include treatment with aphidicolin, a polymerase alpha inhibitor for G1 arrest, treatment with colchicine and nocodazole, both of which interfere with mitotic spindle formation to halt cells in M phase and finally, treatment with the DNA chain terminator 5-fluorodeoxyridine to initiate S phase arrest. Treatment with these chemicals is an effective means of synchronizing an entire population of cells at a particular phase. With removal of the chemical, cells rejoin the cell cycle in unison. Treatment of the test agent following release from the cell cycle blocking chemical ensures that the drug response elicited is from a uniform, cell cycle stage-specific population. However, since many of the chemical synchronizers are known genotoxic compounds, teasing apart the participation of various response pathways (to the synchronizers vs. the test agents) is challenging. Here we describe a metabolic labeling method for following a subpopulation of actively cycling cells through their progression from the DNA replication phase, through to the division and separation of their daughter cells. Coupled with flow cytometry quantification, this protocol enables for measurement of kinetic progression of the cell cycle in the absence of either mechanically- or chemically- induced cellular stresses commonly associated with other cell cycle synchronization methodologies. In the following sections we will discuss the methodology, as well as some of its applications in biomedical research.

Measuring Cell Cycle Progression Kinetics with Metabolic Labeling and Flow Cytometry

Precise control of the initiation and subsequent progression through the various phases of the cell cycle are of paramount importance in proliferating cells. Cell cycle division is an integral part of growth and reproduction and deregulation of key cell cycle components have been implicated in the precipitating events of carcinogenesis 1,2. Molecular agents in anti-cancer therapies frequently target biological pathways responsible for the regulation and coordination of cell cycle division 3. Although cell cycle kinetics tend to vary according to cell type, the distribution of cells amongst the four stages of the cell cycle is rather consistent within a particular cell line due to the consistent pattern of mitogen and growth factor expression. Genotoxic events and other cellular stressors can result in a temporary block of cell cycle progression, resulting in arrest or a temporary pause in a particular cell cycle phase to allow for instigation of the appropriate response mechanism. The ability to experimentally observe the behavior of a cell population with reference to their cell cycle progression stage is an important advance in cell biology. Common procedures such as mitotic shake off, differential centrifugation or flow cytometry-based sorting are used to isolate cells at specific stages of the cell cycle 4-6. These fractionated, cell cycle phase-enriched populations are then subjected to experimental treatments. Yield, purity and viability of the separated fractions can often be compromised using these physical separation methods. As well, the time lapse between separation of the cell populations and the start of experimental treatment, whereby the fractionated cells can progress from the selected cell cycle stage, can pose significant challenges in the successful implementation and interpretation of these experiments. Other approaches to study cell cycle stages include the use of chemicals to synchronize cells. Treatment of cells with chemical inhibitors of key metabolic processes for each cell cycle stage are useful in blocking the progression of the cell cycle to the next stage. For example, the ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor hydroxyurea halts cells at the G1/S juncture by limiting the supply of deoxynucleotides, the building blocks of DNA. Other notable chemicals include treatment with aphidicolin, a polymerase alpha inhibitor for G1 arrest, treatment with colchicine and nocodazole, both of which interfere with mitotic spindle formation to halt cells in M phase and finally, treatment with the DNA chain terminator 5-fluorodeoxyridine to initiate S phase arrest 7-9. Treatment with these chemicals is an effective means of synchronizing an entire population of cells at a particular phase. With removal of the chemical, cells rejoin the cell cycle in unison. Treatment of the test agent following release from the cell cycle blocking chemical ensures that the drug response elicited is from a uniform, cell cycle stage-specific population. However, since many of the chemical synchronizers are known genotoxic compounds, teasing apart the participation of various response pathways (to the synchronizers vs. the test agents) is challenging. Here we describe a metabolic labeling method for following a subpopulation of actively cycling cells through their progression from the DNA replication phase, through to the division and separation of their daughter cells. Coupled with flow cytometry quantification, this protocol enables for measurement of kinetic progression of the cell cycle in the absence of either mechanically- or chemically- induced cellular stresses commonly associated with other cell cycle synchronization methodologies 10. In the following sections we will discuss the methodology, as well as some of its applications in biomedical research.

Abstract 9107: Pim-1 Kinase Increases Non-Random Chromatid Segregation in Cardiac Progenitor Cells

Rationale: A cell has DNA strands of different replication ages because DNA replication is semi-conservative. Double-stranded DNA molecules possess one DNA strand that is one generation older than the other. Non-sister chromatids containing newly synthesized DNA and ‘old’ DNA strands are non-randomly partitioned between mother and daughter cells. Stem cells are presumed to non-randomly segregate chromatids to determine cell fate of daughter cells, although experimental evidence is lacking. Resident cardiac progenitor cells (CPC) present in the adult heart have been used for cell-based treatment of myocardial damage but the factors determining the stemness and lineage commitment of these cells are poorly understood. Cardio protective kinase Pim-1 increases asymmetric cell division in vivo, proliferation and commitment of CPCs after adaptive transfer in pathological injury model but its role in non-random segregation is unknown. Objective: Establish role of Pim-1 on non-random chromatid segregation and correlate with daughter cell fate determination in cardiac progenitor cells. Methods and Results: Non-random segregation was tracked by incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), a thymidine analogue labeling newly synthesized DNA strands. For label retention assay, cells were labeled for many generations and blocked in second cytokinesis during chase in BrdU free media. Two daughter nuclei within a cell body had different BrdU intensity. Density measurements showed that 4.6% of CPCs outside the 95% confidence interval for equal BrdU intensity between daughter nuclei indicating non-random segregation of BrdU labeled chromatids. Genetic engineering of CPCs to express Pim-1 kinase greatly enhanced non-random segregation (12.6% vs 5.6% GFP expressing cells). Non-random segregation was further confirmed by asymmetric BrdU segregation in anaphase cells from second mitotic shake off during chase. Conclusions: CPCs non-randomly segregate chromatids as demonstrated by selective segregation of BrdU labeled chromatids which is twofold increased in cells overexpressing Pim-1 kinase. Future Directions: The relationship of non-random chromatid segregation to identity of stem cells fate remains to be determined.

Orderly Inactivation of the Key Checkpoint Protein Mitotic Arrest Deficient 2 (MAD2) during Mitotic Progression

Anaphase is promoted by the ubiquitin ligase anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) only when all the chromosomes have achieved bipolar attachment to the mitotic spindles. Unattached kinetochores or the absence of tension between the paired kinetochores activates a surveillance mechanism termed the spindle-assembly checkpoint. A fundamental principle of the checkpoint is the activation of mitotic arrest deficient 2 (MAD2). MAD2 then forms a diffusible complex called mitotic checkpoint complex (designated as MAD2(MCC)) before it is recruited to APC/C (designated as MAD2(APC/C)). Large gaps in our knowledge remain on how MAD2 is inactivated after the checkpoint is satisfied. In this study, we have investigated the regulation of MAD2-containing complexes during mitotic progression. Using selective immunoprecipitation of checkpoint components and gel filtration chromatography, we found that MAD2(MCC) and MAD2(APC/C) were regulated very differently during mitotic exit. Temporally, MAD2(MCC) was broken down ahead of MAD2(APC/C). The inactivation of the two complexes also displayed different requirements of proteolysis; although APC/C and proteasome activities were dispensable for MAD2(MCC) inactivation, they are required for MAD2(APC/C) inactivation. In fact, the degradation of CDC20 is inextricably linked to the breakdown of MAD2(APC/C). These data extended our understanding of the checkpoint complexes during checkpoint silencing.

Dead Calm: The Melancholy of Peace

Dead Calm:The Melancholy of Peace Jacques Khalip (bio) The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday—but never jam to-day. —Lewis Carroll, The White Queen to Alice (1998, 174)< . . . I breathe again!Trances of thought and mountings of the mindCome fast upon me: it is shaken off,That burthen of my own unnatural self,The heavy weight of many a weary dayNot mine, and such as were not made for me.Long months of peace (if such bold word accordWith any promises of human life),Long months of ease and undisturbed delightAre mine in prospect; whither shall I turnBy road or pathway, or through trackless field, [End Page 243] Up hill or down, or shall some floating thingUpon the river point me out my course? —Wordsworth (1979, I:18-30) In his inaugural address to the nation, Barack Obama started by conceding that the words of every address invariably share previous contexts: "[they] have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents" (2009, 3). While Obama located his own words in the mise-en-scène of darkening clouds, his address also strategically moved over the delicate "still waters of peace," as if easily taking for granted the figure that underwrote the calculated uplift of the occasion. If peace is linked with prospects, glories, and success, then paradoxically, the insights of its "still waters" are fundamentally shallow. A similarly vague forecast emerges at the beginning of the first book of Wordsworth's The Prelude, another text of thresholds and fragile promises. There Wordsworth reckons with the mixed welcome of things seemingly not too far off. Although lightened of the weight of days, he remains caught up in the consequences of further surmises that do little to clarify the unknowable future course of life. "Trances of thought and mountings of the mind" appear as swiftly as they are "shaken off," while the sense of "many a weary day / Not mine, and such as were not made for me" shares an experience that is just as easily ignored as it is committed to memory. When Wordsworth summons the murky figure of peace, it is with a mood somewhere between apprehension and non-knowing. Indeed, in the 1850 Prelude, Wordsworth shuts away that "bold word" into the space of the parenthetical where it is silently acknowledged as a remainder that haunts poetic thought, an aside only the poem itself could avow in its own inside voice. Whatever Wordsworth takes the "still waters" of peace to be, they turn us as much away as toward the yet-to-come and may-not-come. Appropriately, questions concerning "whither shall I turn / By road or pathway, or through [End Page 244] trackless field, / Up hill or down, or shall some floating thing, / Upon the river point me out my course?" are about the kinds of orientations that peace prescribes and loses sight of altogether. In times of ease and delight, the open road, pathway, or field are prospective figures of movement that seem as untrustworthy as "floating things," which direct one to forget the future even as they suggest alternative means of discovery. The recoil that peace provokes hints at a poetics of possibility encrusted in a theory of mourning: to appreciate the boldness of the declaration of peace is to feel for an opportunity that has palpably gone missing. It is for these reasons that Wordsworth's own "sweet dream of perpetual peace," as Kant calls it, is both welcomed and elegized as an almost charmingly ineffectual anachronism—a floating thing one greets as if it had already disappeared (2006, 67). Like much of Romantic writing, The Prelude was written amidst the sobering realities of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century warfare when utterances of peace were never quite distinguishable from the ever-growing chance of more wars...

Understanding the Geopolitical Implications of the Global Financial Crisis

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. See U.S. Department of Agriculture, “Real Historical Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Growth Rates of GDP,” November 2, 2009, http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/Macroeconomics/ [See dataset titled “Real GDP (2005 dollars) Historical”] 2. This figure is calculated based on data from U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, “72SIC_VA, GO, II,” June 17, 2004, http://www.bea.gov/industry/xls/GDPbyInd_VA_SIC.xls. 3. See Brian M. Lindberg and Justin M. Monaldo, “Annual Industry Accounts: Advance Statistics on GDP by Industry for 2007,” U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, May 2008, http://www.bea.gov/scb/pdf/2008/05%20May/0508_indy_acct.pdf and National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistical Yearbook 2008 (Beijing: China Statistics Press, 2008), pp. 38, 42. 4. See Zhou Xiaochuan, “Reform the International Monetary System,” March 23, 2009, http://www.pbc.gov.cn/english//detail.asp?col=6500&ID=178. 5. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “World Economic and Social Survey 2010: Retooling Global Development,” E/2010/50/Rev.1, 2010, p. XXII. http://www.un.org/esa/policy/wess/wess2010files/wess2010.pdf. 6. Hu Jintao, speech, fourth summit of G-20, Toronto, June 27, 2010, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/topics/hujintaoG20fenghui/t712730.htm. Also see Hu Jintao, “Make Every Effort to Promote Growth and Balanced Development” (remarks, third summit of G-20, Pittsburgh, September 25, 2009),http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/topics/hujintaoG20fenghui/t607838.htm. 7. See Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, “G20 Issues Leaders' Statement of the 3rd Financial Summit,” September 26, 2009, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/topics/hujintaoG20fenghui/t616883.htm. 8. Alex Perry, “China's New Focus on Africa.” Time, July 24, 2010, http://205.188.238.109/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2000110_2000287_2000276-2,00.html. 9. See William Pesek, “Asia's Decoupling from US economy ‘a myth’,” May 9, 2007, http://forum.stirpes.net/economics/11637-asia-s-decoupling-us-economy-myth.html and Bruce Nussbaum, “Coupling and Decoupling in Davos,” Bloomberg Businessweek, January 23, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/NussbaumOnDesign/archives/2008/01/coupling_and_decoupling_in_davos.html. 10. Yukio Hatoyama, “Japan Must Shake Off U.S.-Style Globalization,” Christian Science Monitor, August 19, 2009, http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2009/0819/p09s07-coop.html. 11. Yukio Hatoyama, “Japan Must Shake Off U.S.-Style Globalization,” Christian Science Monitor, August 19, 2009, http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2009/0819/p09s07-coop.html. 12. Xie Yu and Ma Wei, “Cross-Straits Trade Deal to Cut Tariffs, Open Markets,” China Daily, June 30, 2010, http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-06/30/content_10037141.htm. Additional informationNotes on contributorsWu XinboWu Xinbo is a professor and deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, and a member of TWQ's editorial board

Hyperphosphorylation by Cyclin B/CDK1 in Mitosis Resets CUX1 DNA Binding Clock at Each Cell Cycle*

The p110 CUX1 homeodomain protein participates in the activation of DNA replication genes in part by increasing the affinity of E2F factors for the promoters of these genes. CUX1 expression is very weak in quiescent cells and increases during G(1). Biochemical activities associated with transcriptional activation by CUX1 are potentiated by post-translational modifications in late G(1), notably a proteolytic processing event that generates p110 CUX1. Constitutive expression of p110 CUX1, as observed in some transformed cells, leads to accelerated entry into the S phase. In this study, we investigated the post-translation regulation of CUX1 during mitosis and the early G(1) phases of proliferating cells. We observed a major electrophoretic mobility shift and a complete inhibition of DNA binding during mitosis. We show that cyclin B/CDK1 interacts with CUX1 and phosphorylates it at multiple sites. Serine to alanine replacement mutations at 10 SP dipeptide sites were required to restore DNA binding in mitosis. Passage into G(1) was associated with the degradation of some p110 CUX1 proteins, and the remaining proteins were gradually dephosphorylated. Indirect immunofluorescence and subfractionation assays using a phospho-specific antibody showed that most of the phosphorylated protein remained in the cytoplasm, whereas the dephosphorylated protein was preferentially located in the nucleus. Globally, our results indicate that the hyperphosphorylation of CUX1 by cyclin B/CDK1 inhibits its DNA binding activity in mitosis and interferes with its nuclear localization following cell division and formation of the nuclear membrane, whereas dephosphorylation and de novo synthesis contribute to gradually restore CUX1 expression and activity in G(1).

Fluid Identities: A Journey of Terminology

Fluid Identities: A Journey of Terminology

"The breath is alive / with the equal girth of words": Tino Villanueva in Interview

my head / was a roaring of light. phrase appears in The 8 O'Clock (16), an opening poem in Tino Villanueva's collection Scene from the Movie GIANT (1993). speaker uses it to describe the 1973 experience of re-seeing a black-and-white television version of George Stevens's 1956 Hollywood screen classic, with its sumptuous wide-screen portrait of Texas oil and a wildcatting dynasty, and its contrast of Anglo and Latino lives. phrase could readily apply to almost all of Villanueva's writings. Since he made his entrance with Hay Otra Voz Poems (1972), he has established himself as a frontline literary presence, adept in both English- and Spanish-language verse. Among his Latino/a literary generation--notably Bernice Zamora, Alurista, Martin Espada, Gary Soto, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Tato Laviera, and Carmen Tafolla--he is seen as a Chicano poet of bicultural word and history yet wholly endowed with his own rare gifts of voice. Villanueva has written a great deal from an awareness of struggle--rural and small-town poverty and discrimination based on ethnicity, identity, gender, and language politics. Yet important as these concerns have been, they by no means bespeak Villanueva's whole repertoire. Hay Otra Voz Poems offers love poetry (I Saw First Leaf Fall), poetry of earth and space on the occasion of the Apollo 11 mission (Redeemed), and existential reflections (Autolaberinto); yet it also contains the sequence Mi Raza, with its vistas of back-breaking migrant field labor and itinerancy in the Southwest. opening pieces in Shaking Off the Dark (1984) take up the nature of creativity and writing. collection also includes Villanueva's taste for haiku in Right on Time--Together, all of/them coming out from behind / clouds: geese flying south. Across the poems, there can be no mistaking the irresistible press of memory. In Empezando a saber/Beginning to Know, in his Cronica de mis anos peores/Chronicle of My Worst Years (1987, 1994), the English version begins: I don't know what got me to open time's damn doors and see again the dusty, gravelly barrio where I learned to be less than I was. (13) Remembrances of Villanueva's hard-scrub, Presbyterian migrant family upbringing in Texas, looking back from his Boston University professorial life that is so different from that of his childhood and youth, have produced a treasury of imaginative dividends. Limited access to schooling, Army service in Panama from 1964 to 1966, college at Southwest Texas State University, and the draw of Chicano activism within a larger 1960s context of civil rights and the Vietnam War all helped shape Villanueva. In 1969 he enrolled for a master's degree at SUNY-Buffalo, and later for a PhD at Boston University. At both, and in both English and Spanish course work, his interest in poetry took on yet fuller energy, inspired by Dylan Thomas, T. S. Eliot, and the Beats, and the pan-Hispanic spectrum of Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, Ruben Dario, Jose Marti, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Cesar Vallejo. His 1981 doctoral dissertation, which he expanded for publication in 1988, studied the twentieth-century Peninsular poetry of Gabriel Celaya, Angel Gonzalez, and Jose Manuel Caballero Bonald. overall double focus was symptomatic. Given his historical cross-cultural milieu and legacy, how could Villanueva not write colinguistically, a poetry of landscapes lived in, and then inscribed in, the cadences of both English and Spanish? As for the roster launched with Hay Otra Voz Poems and continued through Shaking Off the Dark, Cronica de mis anos peores, Scene From the Movie GIANT, and the chapbook Primera causa/First Cause (1999), the judgments have rarely been less than favorable. Commentary understandably seizes upon Villanueva's unmistakable commitment. Certainly he has been no sentimentalist about Chicano history--poem after poem speaks of loss and breakage (my people's crippled history, he calls it in Cronica's History Class [5]) as much as the will to recognition and justice (Take this faith I've framed / so you can keep this picture he asks in Anointing By Words in Cronica [75]). …

Electron correlation in high energy double ionization of helium by Compton scattering

We report new results of calculations for double ionization of helium by high energy Compton scattering. Our calculation is based on a recently developed perturbative approach, which describes the process in terms of two amplitudes: the shake off (SO) amplitude which includes all initial state correlations and final state interaction (FSI) amplitude. The shake amplitude is based on sudden approximation, and we evaluate the amplitude using highly correlated ground state wave function. The FSI amplitude includes Coulomb interaction between the ejected electrons perturbatively. We present the energy dependence of R, the ratio of the double to single ionization cross-section in the energy range of 30–200 keV of the incident photon energy. We obtain R = 0.82 % at the asymptotic energy of 200 keV. In the range from 30 to 80 keV the superposition of the shake and FSI amplitude gives the energy dependence of R which agrees very well with the experimental data. We present also the calculation of doubly differential cross-section with respect to the slow ejected electron energy and angle between ejected electrons.

Catholic Education in Trinidad in the Twentieth Century: Shaking Off British Protestant Influence

In 1797 Trinidad became a British possession and, by 1889, the islands of Trinidad and Tobago had become a single political entity. In this article, however, discussion will be confined to Trinidad, rather than to Trinidad and Tobago, since the history of the two islands differed significantly in regard to Catholic education.

Synthesis of mesoporous TiO2 nanorods via a mild template-free sonochemical route and their photocatalytic performances

Abstract A mild template-free sonochemical method has been developed to synthesize mesoporous TiO 2 nanorods using industrial bulk Ti powder. The sonochemical synthesis process was carried out under normal atmospheric pressure and relative low temperature. The as prepared materials contained numerous irregular olive-like nanorods aggregates. The nanorods were 8–12 nm in width and 15–100 nm in length, with the crystalline size of 10.3 nm. A mechanism of Oxidation–Shaking off–Rolling up–Shrinkage (OSRS) has been proposed to explain the crystal growth. The photocatalytic activity of the sample was 2.8 times that of P25.

It's Finally Been Confirmed

It's finally been confirmed Camels can pass through the slender eye of a needle. With surprising ease they'vemet the challenge Christ hurled at them.Christ hadn't noticed how enormously skillful camels are. And the saddest thing is thattheyalone find total salvation and monopolize it,no one else. Once camels pass through thebody of theneedle, theystretchout, shake off thedust, clean theirhooves, crack their knuckles, call for a newspaper, coffee, a drink, a redemptive cigar, thedove ofpeace, and amnesty foreverybody. We've got toadmit, notwithout a certaindistress, that they've reallypulled the wool over our eyes and it'sall Christ's fault,because ofhis angelical good faith. Now everything is so confused, so disturbing. Our bosomy buddies are his beloved, likeSenyora Justiciaand SenyoraWhatsita. Everywhere you findhis representatives armed or with a cross or dressed in black to scare thehell out ofus and theyall instilla dismal weariness thatrunnethus over fromdawn todusk. Some self-assured camels, afterslipping into tails, shoot us a grin, letus snifftheflower in theirbuttonhole give us work and dole out Christmas bonuses. Insecure camels, on the other hand, tend to scowl, give kicks and get theirhumps up. Rumor has it that even among themselves they're not so buddy-buddy. They're all on the move, ina hurry, theyplay pranks, get on each other's nerves, join forces, quarrel, arm themselves, disarm, wage wars, grant amnesties, declare truces, make myths, swindle, colonize, kill thenatives, emancipate. And then theycutdeals. Lastnight Last night, I'm sure of it, awoman in thebuff hiding along the coast abruptly abandoned herself to thehunger of the sea bream. The crack ofdawn saw thecliff and sand littered with cork floats, gold rings and various trinkets from an uncertain dynasty. Through the stilldense mist, the moon beat a hasty retreat and the mullets, all aglow, couldn't fathom how to take cover. Translations from the Catalan By LawrenceVenuti Editorial note: From Obra poetica, 1959-1983, copyright? 1987 by theheirs ofMiquel Bauca and Grup Editorial 62, S.L.U., Editorial Emp?ries September-October 2009 i45 ...

Wade Hampton: Confederate Warrior to Southern Redeemer

Wade Hampton: Confederate Warrior to Southern Redeemer Kenneth W. Noe Wade Hampton: Confederate Warrior to Southern Redeemer. By Rod Andrew, Jr.Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8078-3193-9. Maps. Photographs. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xviii, 616. $40.00. Readers surveying historical works on the nineteenth-century South might be excused if they put down their books convinced that there were several notable South Carolinians named Wade Hampton III. There was the young, antebellum [End Page 278] Hampton, both the scion of one of the nation's wealthiest families and a brother forced to deal with the scandalous molestation of his four sisters at the hands of an infamous governor. The Civil War brought another Hampton, the solid and talented leader of men who ably assumed command of Robert E. Lee's cavalry after the death of J. E. B. Stuart, but who also failed to save his hometown of Columbia from the flames. Reconstruction seemed to produce a bitter political leader whose vocal resentment of the North finally took him to the governor's chair, the beneficiary of a campaign of intimidation and violence he claimed not to support but refused to disown. But that Hampton soon embraced sectional reconciliation in Washington and simultaneously enraged his most virulent followers through his support for at least a degree of racial justice. In the past, biographers have focused largely on one Hampton or another, in works that range in tone from denunciation to Confederate hagiography. In contrast, Rod Andrew, Jr., author of a significant book on New South military education, provides a compelling full biography notable for its scope, balance, and insight. Focusing on four themes, Andrew maintains that Hampton's actions actually were much more consistent than previously thought. Conservative politically and socially, Hampton nonetheless inherited from his father a sense of paternalism that at various times led him to treat his slaves humanely, risk the ire of both Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis in his attempts to adequately feed and clothe his men, and later support at least a limited form of African-American suffrage. Concepts of honor and chivalry also shaped the man. Raised in a family with a distinguished military record as well as in a section that demanded courage and ferocity in defense of home, Hampton the reluctant secessionist shook off his doubts to wage a grim war. Honor and chivalry in the evangelical South, however, also required men of standing to offer kindness and forgiveness to lesser beings. After the war, a fourth, powerful theme emerged in his life. With a son and a brother dead, his home and fortune lost, his state humiliated by defeat, and his honor especially besmirched by William Tecumseh Sherman's charges that Hampton burned Columbia himself, he ached for vindication. It was that search that led him to rail against Yankees, enter politics, and finally embrace the terrorism of the Red Shirts, even at the expense of undermining his paternalistic gestures toward the freedpeople. For Andrew, the various threads that together created Lost Cause mythology were not cynical manipulations, but rather genuine expressions of a sense of loss and pain. In a suddenly crowded field of Hampton biographies, Andrew's insights and detailed attention to both Hampton's military career and his political odyssey makes this work stand out as the fullest and best. [End Page 279] Kenneth W. Noe Auburn University Auburn, Alabama Copyright © 2009 The Society for Military History

Haloform adsorption on crystalline copolymer films of vinylidene fluoride with trifluoroethylene

Reversible bromoform adsorption on crystalline polyvinylidene fluoride with 30% of trifluoroethylene, P(VDF–TrFE 70:30) was examined by photoemission and inverse photoemission spectroscopies. The adsorption of bromoform on this polymer surface is associative and reversible. Molecular bromoform adsorption appears to be an activated process at 120 K with enhanced adsorption following the initial adsorption of bromoform. Strong intermolecular interactions are also implicated in the presence of a weak shake off or screened photoemission final state, whose intensity scales with the unscreened photoemission final state.

Interaction of Hepatitis B Viral Oncoprotein with Cellular Target HBXIP Dysregulates Centrosome Dynamics and Mitotic Spindle Formation

Hepatitis B virus infection is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma, claiming 1 million lives annually worldwide. To understand the carcinogenic mechanism of hepatitis B virus-encoded oncoprotein HBx, we explored the function of HBx interaction with its cellular target HBXIP. Previously, we demonstrated that viral HBx and cellular HBXIP control mitotic spindle formation, regulating centrosome splitting. By using various fragments of HBx, we determined that residues (137)CRHK(140) within HBx are necessary for binding HBXIP. Mutation of the (137)CRHK(140) motif in HBx abolished its ability to bind HBXIP and to dysregulate centrosome dynamics in HeLa and immortal diploid RPE-1 cells. Unlike wild-type HBx, which targets to centrosomes as determined by subcellular fractionation and immunofluorescence microscopy, HBx mutants failed to localize to centrosomes. Overexpression of viral HBx wild-type protein and knockdown of endogenous HBXIP altered centrosome assembly and induced modifications of pericentrin and centrin-2, two essential proteins required for centrosome formation and function, whereas HBXIP nonbinding mutants of HBx did not. Overexpression of HBXIP or fragments of HBXIP that bind HBx neutralized the effects of viral HBx on centrosome dynamics and spindle formation. These results suggest that HBXIP is a critical target of viral HBx for promoting genetic instability through formation of defective spindles and subsequent aberrant chromosome segregation.

Molecular Adsorption and Fragmentation of Bromoform on Polyvinylidene Fluoride with Trifluoroethylene

AbstractBromoform absorption on crystalline polyvinylidene fluoride with 30% of trifluoroethylene, P(VDF-TrFE 70:30) was investigated by photoemission and inverse photoemission and found to be associative and reversible. Molecular bromoform adsorption appears to be an activated process at 120 K with enhanced adsorption following the initial adsorption of bromoform. Strong intermolecular interactions are also implicated in the presence of a weak shake off or screened photoemission final state.