2017
Corina E. Tarnita, Bonachela, Juan A. , Sheffer, Efrat , Guyton, Jennifer A. , Coverdale, Tyler C. , Long, Ryan A. , ו Pringle, Robert M.. 2017.
“A Theoretical Foundation For Multi-Scale Regular Vegetation Patterns”, 541, 7637, Pp. 398 - 401. .
Publisher's Version תקציר Empirically validated mathematical models show that a combination of intraspecific competition between subterranean social-insect colonies and scale-dependent feedbacks between plants can explain the spatially periodic vegetation patterns observed in many landscapes, such as the Namib Desert ‘fairy circles’.
Ido Hadar, Philbin, John , Panfil, Yossi , Eshet, Hagai , Rabani, Eran , ו Banin, Uri . 2017.
“Theoretical Investigation Of Novel Cdse/Cd1-XZnXS Seeded Nanorods Exhibiting High Quantum-Yield, High Polarization, And Minimal Blinking”. Abstracts Of Papers Of The American Chemical Society, 253.
תקציר Seeded semiconductor nanorods manifest exceptional and desirable optical properties including tunable bright emission with linear polarization and high physical and chemical stability. These properties arise mainly from their unique mixed 0D-1D dimensionality at the nanoscale. Despite the significant advances and important work on seeded nanorods, until now their robust synthesis was limited to CdSe-seed/CdS-rods. This in turn constrained their color tunability mainly to the orange-red region of the visible spectrum and it has been difficult to obtain emission at higher wavelengths (green). In this talk, I will discuss how we used an all-atom, semiempirical pseudopotential model along with the Bethe-Salpeter equation to investigate seeded nanorods with homogeneously distributed Zn and graded shell compositions. Graded composition seeded nanorods were also synthesized and found to emit green light that is strongly linearly polarized along with having high quantum yields and reduced blinking compared to CdSe/CdS seeded nanorods - this is consistent with our computational study. Our theoretical model allowed us to explicitly show how the increase in the band and optical gaps are related to electron localization effects induced by the addition of Zn into the shell. Additionally, we found that a graded composition of Zn atoms (as opposed to homogenously distributed Zn) in the shell is vital to the enhanced linearly polarized absorption and emission of these novel seeded nanorods. Thus, the controlled addition of Zn influences and improves the nanorods opto-electronic properties by providing an additional handle to control the degree of electron confinement beyond the common size control approach. These seeded nanorods may be utilized in applications that require the generation of a full, rich spectrum such as energy efficient displays and lighting.
Ultrafast processes in light-absorbing proteins have been implicated in the primary step in the light-to-energy conversion and the initialization of photoresponsive biological functions. Theory and computations have played an instrumental role in understanding the molecular mechanism of such processes, as they provide a molecular-level insight of structural and electronic changes at ultrafast time scales that often are very difficult or impossible to obtain from experiments alone. Among theoretical strategies, the application of hybrid quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) models is an important approach that has reached an evident degree of maturity, resulting in several important contributions to the field. This review presents an overview of state-of-the-art computational studies on subnanosecond events in rhodopsins, photoactive yellow proteins, phytochromes, and some other photoresponsive proteins where photoinduced double-bond isomerization occurs. The review also discusses current limitations that need to be solved in future developments.Ultrafast processes in light-absorbing proteins have been implicated in the primary step in the light-to-energy conversion and the initialization of photoresponsive biological functions. Theory and computations have played an instrumental role in understanding the molecular mechanism of such processes, as they provide a molecular-level insight of structural and electronic changes at ultrafast time scales that often are very difficult or impossible to obtain from experiments alone. Among theoretical strategies, the application of hybrid quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) models is an important approach that has reached an evident degree of maturity, resulting in several important contributions to the field. This review presents an overview of state-of-the-art computational studies on subnanosecond events in rhodopsins, photoactive yellow proteins, phytochromes, and some other photoresponsive proteins where photoinduced double-bond isomerization occurs. The review also discusses current limitations that need to be solved in future developments.
Despite the increasing interest in therapists' responses to their encounter with sex offenders, there is a lack of research on their subjective perceptions of this encounter and on their experience working with this client population. The study presented in this article is part of a larger qualitative research project conducted among 19 social workers (12 were women and 7 were men; their ages ranged from 30 to 66 years; 15 of them were Jewish and 4 were Arab). In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine their attitudes toward and perceptions of their encounter with sex offenders. The questions related to the therapists' perceptions regarding motives for committing sex offenses, therapists' perceptions of sex offenders, therapists' perceptions of the victims of sex offenders, and therapists' perceptions of the nature of their professional role. In this article, emphasis is placed on the development and changes of the therapists' perceptions following that encounter. The following five major domains of perceptions were revealed in the study: Therapists' perceptions of the offenders' personal motives for committing sex offenses, therapists' perceptions of sex offenders, therapists' perceptions of the experience of victimization, the process of changing perceptions, and the nature of the therapists' role. The results are discussed in light of Ajzen's conceptualization of the process of acquiring beliefs. The limitations of the study as well as its implications for future research and for shaping the perceptions of therapists toward sex offenders are discussed.
In the half filled zero-energy Landau level of bilayer graphene, competing phases with spontaneously broken symmetries and an intriguing quantum critical behavior have been predicted. Here we investigate signatures of these broken-symmetry phases in thermal transport measurements. To this end, we calculate the spectrum of spin and valley waves in the ν=0 quantum Hall state of bilayer graphene. The presence of Goldstone modes enables heat transport even at low temperatures, which can serve as compelling evidence for spontaneous symmetry breaking. By varying external electric and magnetic fields, it is possible to determine the nature of the symmetry breaking. Temperature-dependent measurements may yield additional information about gapped modes.
This essay argues that the linguistic turn in literary theory, often seen as just a declarative and, in the view of some, catastrophic veering into deconstruction, actually had three 20th-century phases. The first was associated with a reaction to Romantic linguistic excess and dominated the early part of the century, manifesting itself in the work and theories of Eliot, Hofmannsthal, and the logical positivists. The second phase was centered on semantics and was above all a reaction to what was seen as the misuse of language by midcentury totalitarian regimes in Europe. The New Criticism dominant in America during this era can be seen as part of this paradigm and therefore less oriented toward an aesthetic formalism than a defensive inoculation against linguistic abuse. The third phase is dominated by deconstruction and its promulgation of — following the earlier example of Roman Jakobson — a language radically independent of anterior reference and signification. Yet, paradoxically, the era, which was the ultimate unmooring of language from prudence and caution, also saw the elevation of a linguistic approach to all the disciplines, prompting speculation that perhaps the rhetoric of transgression concealed a reality of linguistic plenitude. In the twenty-first century, the epistemological primacy of language, though, seems to have yielded to empiricism and speculative ontology. Yet despite the new appeal of what Best and Marcus call “surface reading,” and though the linguistic turn cannot return as it was in the 20th century, its multiple legacies are important. |
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June 2017: Nicholas Birns’s book Theory After Theory: An Intellectual History of Literary Theory From 1950 to the Early 21st Century appeared from Broadview in 2010 and is now widely used in classrooms, and his monograph Contemporary Australian Literature: A World Not Yet Dead, a major overview of contemporary fiction from Down Under, appeared from Sydney University Press in 2015. He has contributed to The New York Times Book Review, The Hollins Critic, Exemplaria, Arizona Quarterly, MLQ, and many other journals and edited anthologies. |
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Naomichi Furushiro, Yokota, Hideo , Nakamura, Sakiko , Fujisaki, Kazuhiro , Yamagata, Yutaka , Kokubo, Mitsunori , Himeno, Ryutaro , Makinouchi, Akitake , Higuchi, Toshiro , Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kansai University 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita-shi Osaka Japan 564-8680, RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics, Saitama, Japan , of Machines, Department Intelligent , System Engineering, Hirosaki University, Aomori Japan , Toshiba Machine Co., Ltd., Shizuoka Japan , for Computing, Advanced Center , Communication, RIKEN, Saitama Japan , RIKEN, Japan , ו The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan . 2017.
“Three-Dimensional Observation Of Microstructure Of Bone Tissue Using High-Precision Machining”. Int. J. Autom. Technol., 11, 6, Pp. 883–894.
תקציר This study aims to verify whether the three-dimensional internal information acquisition system we have developed can be applied successfully to the microstructures of consecutively precision-machined biological samples, and to those of metallic samples. Therefore, this study mainly deals with biological hard tissue samples like bones. In this paper, we first studied the precision-machining characteristics of bones. From this, we determined that, to obtain machined surfaces sufficient for internal observations, we need to determine the maximum uncut chip thickness and the cutting speeds, taking the bone's anisotropy into consideration. Next, we acquired three-dimensional internal information on consecutively precision-machined bone samples using the three-dimensional internal acquisition system we developed. Subsequently, we visualized the internal structures of these machined samples. Our tiling observations acquired an 18$\times$9$\times$3 mm segment as a 6.2$\times$6.2$\times$10$μ$m resolution image. We obtained a three-dimensionally reconstructed image of complex blood vessel networks inside the bone by making the acquired images binary.
Benoliel R, Y, Sharav , Y, Haviv , ו G., Almoznino . 6/2017.
“Tic, Triggering, And Tearing: From Ctn To Sunha”. Headache, (6), 57, Pp. 997-1009. .
Publisher's Version The interactions between flowering plants and insect pollinators shape eco-logical communities and provide one of the best examples of coevolution.Although these interactions have received much attention in both ecologyand evolution, their temporal aspects are little explored. Here we reviewstudies on the circadian organization of pollination-related traits in beesand flowers. Research, mostly with the honeybee, Apis mellifera, has impli-cated the circadian clock in key aspects of their foraging for flowerrewards. These include anticipation, timing of visits to flowers at specifiedlocations and time-compensated sun-compass orientation. Floral rhythmsin traits such as petal opening, scent release and reward availability alsoshow robust daily rhythms. However, in only few studies it was possibleto adequately determine whether these oscillations are driven by externaltime givers such as light and temperature cycles, or endogenous circadianclocks. The interplay between the timing of flowers and pollinators rhythmsmay be ecologically significant. Circadian regulation of pollination-relatedtraits in only few species may influence the entire pollination network andthus affect community structure and local biodiversity. We speculate thatthese intricate chronobiological interactions may be vulnerable to anthropo-genic effects such as the introduction of alien invasive species, pesticides orenvironmental pollutants Q1 .This article is part of the themed issue ‘Wild clocks: integrating chrono-biology and ecology to understand timekeeping in free-living animals’.
Guy Dagan, Koren, Ilan , Altaratz, Orit , ו Heiblum, Reuven H.. 2017.
“Time-Dependent, Non-Monotonic Response Of Warm Convective Cloud Fields To Changes In Aerosol Loading”. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12, Pp. 7435-7444. doi:10.5194/acp-17-7435-2017.
Publisher's Version Cisplatin is a widely used chemotherapeutic drug showing high efficiency in the treatment of primary tumors such as ovarian, testicular and cervical cancers. The major drawback of cisplatin is tumor resistance either acquired or intrinsic. Many mechanisms are involved in the resistance, among them is the Nrf2 pathway which regulates glutathione related enzymes. Caffeic acid, a non-toxic polyphenol which is abundant in many foods modulates glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GSR) activity, these enzymes were shown to be involved in resistance of cells towards cisplatin. Caffeic acid induces the Nrf2 pathway and can also inhibit the activity of GST and GSR. Our findings demonstrate that the co-treatment of cancer cells with cisplatin and caffeic acid can enhance cisplatin cytotoxicity and increases the amount of platinum bound to nuclear DNA. However, 6h of pre incubation with caffeic acid prior to cisplatin treatment led to acquired resistance to cisplatin and reduced DNA binding. In conclusion, the enzyme inhibitory action of caffeic acid is dominant when the two agents are co-administered leading to increased cytotoxicity, and the Nrf2 induction is dominant when the cells are treated with caffeic acid prior to cisplatin treatment leading to resistance. The use of caffeic acid as adjuvant for cisplatin should be carefully examined due to different pharmacokinetic profiles of caffeic acid and cisplatin. Thus, it is questionable if the two agents can reach the tumors at the right time frame in vivo.
Post infectious sequelae such as sepsis and septic shock are poorly understood and annually take the lives of millions over the world. Severe microbial infections caused by Gram Positive and Gram Negative bacteria and by fungi are the main causes, which are aggravated by the rapid development of antibiotic resistance. It is unfortunate that today all the clinical trials of sepsis which tested the efficacy of single antagonists failed. Sepsis was recently redefined as a synergistic multifactorial episode where no unique alarmin had been identified, which if inhibited could control the deleterious biochemical and immune immunological events characteristic of sepsis. An apparent “breakthrough “in our understanding of sepsis pathogenicity was published in 2009 in Nature Medicine arguing that the main cause of mortality in sepsis is the release from neutrophils (PMNs) nets of highly toxic nuclear histone. This caused endothelial cell dysregulation leading to organ failure. However, this concept downplays the concept that concomitantly with the activation of PMNs, a plethora of additional proinflammatory agents is also released. These can act in synergy with histone to injure cells. Furthermore, since many additional clinical disorders not related to sepsis also reported high levels of circulating histones, this toxic agent may be considered just another marker of cell damage. The failure to treat sepsis by the administration of only single antagonists should be replaced by cocktails of appropriate anti inflammatory agents.
Roi Isaac, Goldstein, Ido , Furth, Noa , Zilber, Neta , Streim, Sarina , Boura-Halfon, Sigalit , Elhanany, Eytan , Rotter, Varda , Oren, Moshe , ו Zick, Yehiel . 2017.
“Tm7Sf3, A Novel P53-Regulated Homeostatic Factor, Attenuates Cellular Stress And The Subsequent Induction Of The Unfolded Protein Response”, 24, 1, Pp. 132 - 143. .
Publisher's Version תקציר Earlier reported small interfering RNA (siRNA) high-throughput screens, identified seven-transmembrane superfamily member 3 (TM7SF3) as a novel inhibitor of pancreatic β-cell death. Here we show that TM7SF3 maintains protein homeostasis and promotes cell survival through attenuation of ER stress. Overexpression of TM7SF3 inhibits caspase 3/7 activation. In contrast, siRNA-mediated silencing of TM7SF3 accelerates ER stress and activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR). This involves inhibitory phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α activity and increased expression of activating transcription factor-3 (ATF3), ATF4 and C/EBP homologous protein, followed by induction of apoptosis. This process is observed both in human pancreatic islets and in a number of cell lines. Some of the effects of TM7SF3 silencing are evident both under basal conditions, in otherwise untreated cells, as well as under different stress conditions induced by thapsigargin, tunicamycin or a mixture of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1 beta and interferon gamma). Notably, TM7SF3 is a downstream target of p53: activation of p53 by Nutlin increases TM7SF3 expression in a time-dependent manner, although silencing of p53 abrogates this effect. Furthermore, p53 is found in physical association with the TM7SF3 promoter. Interestingly, silencing of TM7SF3 promotes p53 activity, suggesting the existence of a negative-feedback loop, whereby p53 promotes expression of TM7SF3 that acts to restrict p53 activity. Our findings implicate TM7SF3 as a novel p53-regulated pro-survival homeostatic factor that attenuates the development of cellular stress and the subsequent induction of the UPR.
