Renal medullary Na-K-ATPase and hypoxic injury in perfused rat kidneys

Renal medullary Na-K-ATPase and hypoxic injury in perfused rat kidneys. We wished to see if chronic alterations in Na-K-ATPase activity in the medullary thick ascending limb would modify the susceptibility of its cells to the hypoxic injury produced by perfusion of the isolated kidney. Rats were fed a diet high (64%) or low (8%) in protein for three weeks. Renal medullary Na-K-ATPase was 75 ± 12 U/mg protein/hr (mean ± SE) in the high protein group and 44 ± 3 in rats given low protein. After 90 minutes of perfusion, the kidneys of rats fed a high protein diet showed almost all mTAL cells near the inner medulla with severe damage (93 ± 4.8%), whereas the same zone in perfused kidneys of rats on a low protein diet showed only 47 ± 7.7% injury. In a similar fashion, damage to mTAL cells seen in perfused kidneys was greatly augmented by compensatory renal hypertrophy produced by removal of the contralateral kidney two weeks earlier, and by a diet high in potassium given for two weeks, procedures which also increased the activity of medullary Na-K-ATPase. The results suggest that the level of transport work of medullary cells mediated by Na-K-ATPase is a determinant of the vulnerability of mTAL cells to hypoxic injury

Purification of B-bungarotoxin : its effects on release of neurotransmitters and its binding to brain synaptosomes

Imperial Users onl

Developing Interactive Elicitation: Social Desirability Bias and Capturing Play

Drawing on research from a mixed-methods project on gaming we argue for a qualitative methodological approach called “interactive elicitation,” a form of data collection that combines elements of photo elicitation, interviewing and vignettes. After situating our broader research project exploring young people’s experiences of violent open-world video games, we outline the process of conducting interactive elicitation, arguing for a mixed-methods approach where participants are observed and interviewed both during and immediately after interacting with particular cultural artefacts, in this case the game GTA V. We reflect on the initial design of the research methodology, the problematic aspects of conducting the research – focusing on social desirability bias – before proffering adaptations to our approach in relation to complementary work in the field of Game Studies. Ultimately, we argue for immediacy in relation to research on cultural experiences and the importance of social desirability as an asset in framing interaction, both of which have implications for sociological and interdisciplinary research more widely

Atmospheric trace metal concentrations, solubility and deposition fluxes in remote marine air over the south-east Atlantic

Total and soluble trace metal concentrations were determined in atmospheric aerosol and rainwater samples collected during seven cruises in the south-east Atlantic. Back trajectories indicated the samples all represented remote marine air masses, consistent with climatological expectations. Aerosol trace metal loadings were similar to previous measurements in clean, marine air masses. Median total Fe, Al, Mn, V, Co and Zn concentrations were 206, 346, 5, 3, 0.7 and 11 pmol m-3 respectively. Solubility was operationally defined as the fraction extractable using a pH4.7 ammonium acetate leach. Median soluble Fe, Al, Mn, V, Co, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd and Pb concentrations were 6, 55, 1, 0.7, 0.06, 24, 2, 1, 0.05 and 0.3 pmol m-3 respectively. Large ranges in fractional solubility were observed for all elements except Co; median solubility values for Fe, Al and Mn were below 20% while the median for Zn was 74%. Volume weighted mean rainwater concentrations were 704, 792, 32, 10, 3, 686, 25, 0.02, 0.3 and 10 nmol L-1 for Fe, Al, Mn, V, Co, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd and Pb respectively (n = 6). Wet deposition fluxes calculated from these values suggest rain makes a significant contribution to total deposition in the study area for all elements except perhaps Ni

The Long-Standing Requirement That Delegations of Land Use Control Power Contain Meaningful Standards to Restrain and Guide Decision-Makers Should Not Be Weakened

Some forty years ago, a leading land use scholar noted that “it has always been recognized that it is an essential part of the judicial function to watch over the parochial and exclusionist attitudes and policies of local governments, and to see to it that these do not run counter to national policy and the general welfare.” Maine courts by and large have discharged this judicial function by consistently striking down unauthorized and overreaching local governmental land use decisions. Several recent cases, however, cast doubt on the Law Court\u27s continuing commitment to guard against the parochial instincts of local land use decision-makers. There is speculation as to whether the Waterville Hotel line of cases retains the vitality it once had. It is the purpose of this Article to show the utility of, and the underlying legal theories that support, these twenty-five years of case law. The Authors will argue that both public and private interests, as well as fundamental principles of “ordered government,” are best served by a strong and substantive reaffirmation of the principles and lessons of Waterville Hotel, Cope, and Wakelin. In the area of land use, judicial watchfulness over the parochial instincts of local governments is needed today no less than it was more than twenty-five years ago when the warnings were first sounded

Class and narrative accrual: personal troubles and public issues in five vignettes.

This paper develops Bruner’s (1991) notion of narrative accrual, in conjunction with ‘life-stories’ and ‘event-stories’, to focus on the accumulation of experiences as a contributor to working class identity. Situated between Mills’ (1959) personal troubles and public issues, and framed by Nouri and Helterline (1998) argument that identity is framed by social interaction with signification systems and other people, the author’s own experiences as an early career academic in two different British Universities – one more research-oriented with a predominantly middle-class student body, the other more teaching-oriented with a more class diverse student body – are utilized to forward ‘personal narrative accrual’ as a way of both conceptualizing and unpacking class associations, reflecting on Warnock’s (2016) fivefold typology of alienation, cultural capital, stereotyping/microaggression, survivor guilt/impostor syndrome and middle class networking. Ultimately, this paper considers the interrelated problems of working class identity, career development, and ‘playing the game’ through autobiographical vignettes, and suggests the potential application of personal narrative accrual in decreasing feelings of isolation in academia by working class academics

Response of the Eastern Mediterranean Microbial Ecosystem to Dust and Dust Affected by Acid Processing in the Atmosphere

Acid processes in the atmosphere, particularly those caused by anthropogenic acid gases, increase the amount of bioavailable P in dust and hence are predicted to increase microbial biomass and primary productivity when supplied to oceanic surface waters. This is likely to be particularly important in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS), which is P limited during the winter bloom and N&P co-limited for phytoplankton in summer. However, it is not clear how the acid processes acting on Saharan dust will affect the microbial biomass and primary productivity in the EMS. Here, we carried out bioassay manipulations on EMS surface water on which Saharan dust was added as dust (Z), acid treated dust (ZA), dust plus excess N (ZN), and acid treated dust with excess N (ZNA) during springtime (May 2012) and measured bacterioplankton biomass, metabolic, and other relevant chemical and biological parameters. We show that acid treatment of Saharan dust increased the amount of bioavailable P supplied by a factor of ~40 compared to non-acidified dust (18.4 vs. 0.45 nmoles P mg−1 dust, respectively). The increase in chlorophyll, primary, and bacterial productivity for treatments Z and ZA were controlled by the amount of N added with the dust while those for treatments ZN and ZNA (in which excessive N was added) were controlled by the amount of P added. These results confirm that the surface waters were N&P co-limited for phytoplankton during springtime. However, total chlorophyll and primary productivity in the acid treated dust additions (ZA and ZNA) were less than predicted from that calculated from the amount of the potentially limiting nutrient added. This biological inhibition was interpreted as being due to labile trace metals being added with the acidified dust. A probable cause for this biological inhibition was the addition of dissolved Al, which forms potentially toxic Al nanoparticles when added to seawater. Thus, the effect of anthropogenic acid processes in the atmosphere, while increasing the flux of bioavailable P from dust to the surface ocean, may also add toxic trace metals such as Al, which moderate the fertilizing effect of the added nutrients

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, procedural rhetoric and the military-entertainment complex: two case studies from the War on Terror.

This article explores how the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea is represented in video games developed and played during the height of the War on Terror. Drawing on Šisler (2008) and Robinson’s (2012; 2015) work on video game rhetoric, US exceptionalism and visual typifications of Middle Eastern countries, the paper will explore two case studies Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005) and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2 (2004) using Bogost’s concept of ‘procedural rhetoric’ (2008; 2010) to unpack and detail the visual signifiers and gameplay mechanics of these titles in comparison with other work on games set in ‘Axis of Evil’ countries. The paper will conclude by situating the games within the military-entertainment complex more broadly (here focusing on film), arguing that North Korea is ultimately framed paradoxically in video games, a country that is viewed on the one hand as a threat to world peace and on the other as an absurdist dictatorship