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Many animal welfare organisations deliver education programmes for children and young people, or design materials for schoolteachers to use. However, few of these are scientifically evaluated, making it difficult for those working in this field to establish with any certainty the degree of success of their own programmes, or learn from others. There has been no guidance specifically tailored to the development and evaluation of animal welfare education interventions. Accordingly, a three-stage online Delphi study was designed to unearth the expertise of professionals working in this field and identify degree of consensus on various aspects of the intervention process: design, implementation and evaluation. Thirty-one experts participated in Round 1, representing eleven of 13 organisations in the Scottish Animal Welfare Education Forum (SAWEF), and eleven of 23 members of the wider UK-based Animal Welfare Education Alliance (AWEA). Seven further professionals participated, including four based in Canada or the US. Eighty-four percent of the original sample participated in Round 2, where a high level of consensus was apparent. However, the study also revealed areas of ambiguity (determining priorities, the need for intervention structure and degree of success). Tensions were also evident with respect to terminology (especially around cruelty and cruelty prevention), and the common goal for animal welfare to be part of school curricula. Findings were used to develop a web-based framework and toolkit to enable practitioners to follow evidence-based guidance. This should enable organisations to maximise the quality and effectiveness of their interventions for children and young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, UK schools are not required to teach children about animal welfare. This undoubtedly contributes to widespread deficiencies in knowledge, and misconceptions about animals' needs, likes, and dislikes. Aware of the issues at hand, animal welfare organisations create their own materials for teachers to use, and/or deliver educational programmes directly to children and young people. As the design, content, processes and outcomes associated with these interventions are rarely documented publicly or systematically evaluated, there is little evidence to guide the development of animal welfare education. A three-stage online Delphi study was used to identify who current interventions target, what delivery methods are being used, and how expert practitioners describe priorities and challenges in the field. Thirty-one experts participated in Round 1, with 84% of the sample (n = 26) also taking part in Round 2. Qualitative analysis revealed passionate accounts about the far-reaching potential of educating children about animals. However, we also identified ambiguities and tensions that could thwart the future development of effective animal welfare education. Alongside the production of a web-based framework and evidence-based toolkit to support practitioners, findings will be used to encourage animal welfare professionals to work towards producing shared terminology, definitions, and outcomes' frameworks; focusing on positive education and the idea of harm as opposed to cruelty. This should facilitate collaboration with schoolteachers and education policymakers to assess the ways in which animal welfare might be successfully incorporated within formal education in the future. These data suggest many potential avenues for inclusion, although a holistic approach emphasising the links between humans, animals and the environment, within the context of young people's recent activism and contemporary health, societal and environmental issues, may be most successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prehistoric Egiin Davaa earthquake rupture is well-preserved in late Quaternary deposits within the Hangay Mountains of central Mongolia. The rupture is expressed by a semi-continuous 80 km-long topographic scarp. Geomorphological reconstructions reveal a relatively constant scarp height of 4–4.5 m and a NW-directed slip vector. Previous researchers have suggested that the scarp's exceptional geomorphological preservation indicates that it may correspond to an earthquake that occurred in the region c.500 years ago. However, we constrain the last rupture to have been at least 4 ka ago from morphological dating and <7.4 ka ago based on radiocarbon dating from one of two palaeoseismic trenches. Our study shows that discrete earthquake ruptures, along with details such as the locations of partially infilled fissures, can be preserved for periods well in excess of 1000 years in the interior of Asia, providing an archive of fault movements that can be directly read from the Earth's surface over a timescale appropriate for the study of slowly deforming continental interiors. The Egiin Davaa rupture involved c.8 m of slip which, along with the observations that it is largely unsegmented along its length and that the ratio of cumulative slip (c.250 m) to fault length (c.80 km) is small, suggests relatively recent reactivation of a pre-existing geological structure.Supplementary material:All scarp profiles are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18871

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The primary mechanism for clearance of extracellular dopamine (DA) is uptake mediated by the dopamine transporter (DAT), which is governed, in part, by the number of functional DATs on the cell surface. Previous studies have shown that amphetamine (AMPH) decreases DAT cell surface expression, whereas insulin reverses this effect through the action of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). Therefore, it is possible that AMPH causes DAT cell surface redistribution by inhibiting basal insulin signaling. Here, we show in a heterologous expression system and in murine striatal synaptosomes that AMPH causes a time-dependent decrease in the activity of Akt, a protein kinase immediately downstream of PI3K. This effect was blocked by the DAT inhibitor cocaine, suggesting that AMPH must interact with DAT to inhibit Akt. We also showed that AMPH is able to stimulate Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) activity, both in the heterologous expression system as well as in murine striatal synaptosomes. The ability of AMPH to decrease Akt activity was blocked by the CaMKII inhibitor 2-[N-(2-hydroxyethyl)]-N-(4-methoxybenzenesulfonyl)]amino-N-(4-chlorocinnamyl)-N-methylbenzylamine (KN93), but not by its inactive analog 2-[N-(4-methoxybenzenesulfonyl)]amino-N-(4-chlorocinnamyl)-N-methylbenzylamine (KN92). Furthermore, preincubation with KN93 prevented the AMPH-induced decrease in DAT cell surface expression. Thus, AMPH, but not cocaine, decreases Akt activity through a CaMKII-dependent pathway, thereby providing a novel mechanism by which AMPH regulates insulin signaling and DAT trafficking.

The mono and bis N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes Ru(ICy)(PPh3)2(CO)H2 (1) and Ru(ICy)2(PPh3)(CO)H2 (2) (ICy = 1,2-dicyclohexylimidazol-2-ylidene) were isolated from the reaction of Ru(PPh3)3(CO)H2 with ICy at elevated temperature. X-ray crystallography revealed that 1 contains a trans arrangement of the PPh3 ligands with the ICy trans to hydride; in complex 2, the two ICy ligands are cis to one another. Both 1 and 2 undergo H/D exchange with D2, as well as reacting rapidly with CO to give Ru(ICy)(PPh3)(CO)3 (3) and Ru(ICy)2(CO)3 (4). Addition of CO2 to solutions of 2 resulted in insertion into one of the Ru−H bonds to afford both the κ¹- and κ²-formate complexes Ru(ICy)2(PPh3)(CO)(κ¹-OCHO)H (5) and Ru(ICy)2(CO)(κ²-OCHO)H (6). Addition of CO2 to 1 gave solely Ru(ICy)(PPh3)(CO)(κ²-OCHO)H (7). The product from reaction of ICy with Ru(PPh3)3HCl proves to be solvent dependent, generating two isomers of the mono-NHC complex Ru(ICy)(PPh3)2HCl (8a,b) in dichloromethane but the bis-NHC species Ru(ICy)2(PPh3)HCl (10) in THF. An agostic interaction between Ru and a β-CH2 hydrogen of the ICy ligand is apparent both in the X-ray crystal structure of 8a and also in solution. This interaction is broken upon addition of CO, which yields Ru(ICy)(PPh3)2(CO)HCl (9). The molecular structure of the coordinatively unsaturated species 10 is devoid of any agostic bonding.

A novel and highly enantioselective Ru-catalyzed hydrogenation of N-sulfonylated-α-dehydroamino acids has been discovered and demonstrated in the synthesis of an anthrax lethal factor inhibitor (LFI). Herein, this methodology is used to prepare N-sulfonylated amino acids in up to 98% ee. This unprecedented hydrogenation uses a chiral Ru catalyst rather than Rh as typical for acylated dehydroamino acids and esters, and this work reports the first asymmetric hydrogenation of a tetrasubstituted dehydroamino acid derivative using a Ru catalyst.

Objective. Anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) have been reported to induce apoptosis. We investigated the induction of apoptosis by these autoantibodies and their involvement in the removal of apoptotic cells.Methods. AECA isolated from patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were incubated with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). AECA-positive sera were identified using a cell-based ELISA. Apoptosis was measured by morphology and phosphatidylserine externalization using flow cytometry with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated annexin V. Flow cytometry was used to investigate AECA binding to apoptotic cells using FITC-conjugated anti-human immunoglobulin G (IgG). Apoptotic endothelial cells were stained with a red dye (PKH26) and co-cultured with macrophages, and phagocytosis was visualized under phase contrast microscopy.Results. AECA from patients with SLE did not induce apoptosis compared with normal IgG (nIgG) at any time point, as assessed by morphology (at 24 h, P = 0.167) or phosphatidylserine externalization (at 24 h, P = 0.098). However, there was increased binding of AECA to apoptotic endothelial cells (48.8 ± 11.9 compared with 25.8 ± 6.7% AECA binding to freshly isolated cells, P< 0.001). These opsonized endothelial cells showed greater phagocytosis by macrophages (mean phagocytic index 24.9 ± 4.5%) when cells opsonized with nIgG were compared with AECA (34.8 ± 3.4% n = 5, P = 0.01).Conclusion. In conclusion, AECA bind to apoptotic endothelial cells but do not induce endothelial cell apoptosis. Macrophage phagocytosis is increased by opsonization of apoptotic endothelial cells by AECA, a proinflammatory mechanism of cell removal.

At trace coverages on concrete surfaces, the nerve agent VX (O-ethyl S-2-diisopropylaminoethyl methyl phosphonothiolate) degrades by cleavage of the P−S and S−C bonds, as revealed by periodic secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The observed kinetics were (pseudo-) first-order, with a half-life of 2−3 h at room temperature. The rate increased with surface pH and temperature, with an apparent second-order constant of kOH = 0.64 M^-1 min^-1 at 25 °C and an activation energy of 50−60 kJ mol^-1. These values are consistent with a degradation mechanism of alkaline hydrolysis within the adventitious water film on the concrete surface. Degradation of bulk VX on concrete would proceed more slowly.

A novel method for palladium-catalyzed cyanation of aryl bromides promoted by low-level tri-n-butyltin chloride or cyanide is described. The method features low catalyst loading and mild reaction conditions. KCN is used as the cyanide source. Only trace levels of the tri-n-butyltin compound are required to achieve high conversion and yield in the cyanation of aryl bromides, iodides, and triflates.

We prospectively studied the post‐operative recovery profile of 28 ex‐premature infants undergoing inguinal herniotomy. All infants had a post‐conceptual age of less than 46 weeks at the time of surgery and were randomized to receive either sevoflurane (group 1, 14 patients) or spinal anaesthesia (group 2, 14 patients). All patients received supplemental caudal analgesia before skin incision. Cardiorespiratory function was continuously recorded in all patients before and after surgery. A blinded observer analysed each paired recording for predefined episodes of apnoea, hypoxaemia or bradycardia and the reports were used to compare the two groups. Spinal anaesthesia was attempted unsuccessfully in four patients in group 2. Five patients in group 1 demonstrated an ‘excess’ number of episodes (median 4, range 3–12) of clinically silent post‐operative cardiorespiratory complications. (‘Excess’ in our study was defined as a 3‐fold or greater increase in the number of post‐operative episodes of bradycardia or apnoea relative to pre‐operative occurrence). Three of these patients had pre‐existing abnormal respiratory function and accounted for 80% of the episodes (26/32) of post‐operative bradycardia and all five episodes of post‐operative apnoea identified. All episodes of bradycardia and apnoea were temporally unrelated. None of the remaining patients in group 2 demonstrated an unacceptable number of post‐operative cardiorespiratory complications. Our limited study suggests that general anaesthesia with an inhalational agent such as sevoflurane may induce or unmask abnormalities of cardiopulmonary function in predisposed infants. Spinal anaesthesia may be preferable but it is potentially stressful for the infant and associated with a clinically significant failure rate.Br J Anaesth 2001; 86: 366–71

Six young dogs were presented with a history of dysphagia and nasal regurgitation since birth. Following cranial nerve examination and assessment of swallowing with fluoroscopy, a diagnosis of cricopharyngeal achalasia was made in each case. In four dogs, concomitant aspiration pneumonia was present. Sectioning and removal of part of the cricopharyngeal muscle resulted in immediate and continued resolution of all signs of dysphagia and nasal regurgitation over follow‐up periods of two to eight years. Postoperative complications were not seen in any case. In five of the six dogs, the cricopharyngeal muscle was approached laterally, a technique not previously described.

Salts of the donor molecule, bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF or ET), with pentafluorothiomethylsulfonate (SF5CX2SO3^-, X = H or F) anions have been prepared. Three phases, β‘ ‘-(ET)2SF5CH2SO3, β‘-(ET)2SF5CF2SO3, and β‘ ‘-(ET)2SF5CHFSO3 were obtained by electrocrystallization with the corresponding LiSF5CX2SO3 electrolytes. The structures of these salts were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and their physical properties were examined by electrical resistivity measurements as well as by ESR and Raman spectroscopy. The β‘ ‘-(ET)2SF5CH2SO3, β‘ ‘-(ET)2SF5CHFSO3 and β‘-(ET)2SF5CF2SO3 salts are considerably different in their crystal structures, physical properties, and electronic structures despite the similarity in the structures of the SF5CX2SO3^- (X = H, F) anions. The β‘ ‘-(ET)2SF5CH2SO3 salt has two kinds of ET donor molecules with considerably different charge densities. The electronic structure of β‘ ‘-(ET)2SF5CHFSO3 has both one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) Fermi surfaces which are similar to those found in the organic superconductor β‘ ‘-(ET)2SF5CH2CF2SO3. The ESR data for the β‘-(ET)2SF5CF2SO3 salt indicate that it opens a spin gap below 45 K. The differences in the physical properties of the three salts were analyzed by calculating the HOMO−HOMO interaction energies between nearest-neighbor ET molecules in their donor molecule layers.

Phosphorylation at Ser-15 may be a critical event in the up-regulation and functional activation of p53 during cellular stress. In this report we provide evidence that the ATM-Rad3-related protein ATR regulates phosphorylation of Ser-15 in DNA-damaged cells. Overexpression of catalytically inactive ATR (ATRki) in human fibroblasts inhibited Ser-15 phosphorylation in response to gamma-irradiation and UV light. In gamma-irradiated cells, ATRki expression selectively interfered with late-phase Ser-15 phosphorylation, whereas ATRki blocked UV-induced Ser-15 phosphorylation in a time-independent manner. ATR phosphorylated p53 at Ser-15 and Ser-37 in vitro, suggesting that p53 is a target for phosphorylation by ATR in DNA-damaged cells.

Novel organoplatinum complexes of the enantiomerically pure P, N ligand, (4S)-2-(2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl)-4-isopropyl-1,3-oxazoline, have been synthesized and shown to act as Lewis acids. These complexes consist of the bidentate P, N ligand, an achiral organic ligand, and a solvent ligand that can be readily displaced by organic substrates. The solvent ligand is situated cis to the nitrogen donor and, as such, is in a “chiral pocket” created by the oxazoline ring. The complexes are readily prepared from the well-known, and versatile, precursors (COD)PtR2 and are obtained as single isomers. Two of the complexes have had their structures elucidated by X-ray crystallography. The cationic complexes were shown to be enantioselective catalysts in the Michael reaction of α-cyano carboxylates with methyl vinyl ketone.

A six‐month‐old kitten had congenital urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence due to urethral hypoplasia and associated uterine hypoplasia and vaginal aplasia. Diagnosis was based on radiographic examination, surgical exploration and histological examination of the lower urinary tract. Surgical correction resulted in a marked clinical improvement. The cat became fully continent following treatment with phenylpropanolamine.

Multinuclear n.m.r. spectroscopy, including the use of two-dimensional methodology, was used to confirm the identity of inositol 1,3,4-triphosphate and its metabolic precursor inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate. The cyclohexane ring in each molecule exhibits a chair conformation with all phosphate groups occupying equatorial positions.

We have undertaken an electron spin resonance study at both low and high magnetic field on the superconducting phase of the ambient pressure superconductor (BEDT-TTF>2I3, (ET)2I3, over the temperature range 1-300 K and hydrostatic pressure range from 0 to 2 kbar. At ambient pressure the ESR results are consistent with the picture of (ET)2I3 as a metal. Superconductivity is observed at 1.6 K via low field ESR. Application of modest pressures strongly suppresses the superconducting transition temperature. At pressures above about 0.3 kbar the superconductivity is suppressed in favor of an as-yet-unidentified magnetic state whose onset is at 7K. Through an analysis of the microwave ESR lineshape we find that the microwave conductivity over the temperature range 5-50 K is in agreement with dc measurements.

A contactless technique has been developed for tracking the metallic, spin density wave and superconducting ground states of organic superconductors as a function of pressure and temperature.

The effect of oxygen on “Stage III” annealing in neutron-irradiated niobium has been investigated by means of internal-friction and electrical-resistivity techniques. The oxygen Snoek peak decreased during isothermal annealing at 150°C and the kinetics of this process was similar to that of the electrical-resistivity decrease at the same temperature. Oxygen-free samples exhibited no annealing effects in Stage III. It was concluded that Stage III is caused by the migration of oxygen to radiation-produced defects.

The ultrafine iron cores found within the iron-storage protein ferritin are of interest to both the molecular biologist and physicist. The manner in which the protein shell (apoferritin) takes up, releases and sequesters iron is of great biological importance. Also, due to their nano-size (≤8 nm), the magnetically ordered cores are singly domained. Such particles possess interesting magnetic relaxation and dynamic properties for which Mössbauer spectroscopy is an ideal analytic tool. Horse ferritin molecules iron-loaded artificially contain ferrihydrite-like cores which behave as superparamagnets due to their nano-size. An anomalous decrease in thef-factor occurs above the blocking temperature of the superparamagnetic particles. This has been attributed to a magnetostriction effect resulting from superparamagnetic switching.

New synthetic routes to bis(ethylenedithio)tetraselenafulvalene (BETS) were explored, starting from tetraselenafulvalene (TSF). Several radical cation salts of TSF and BETS were prepared by electrocrystallization. A new kappa phase salt of BETS, K-(BETS)2GaCl4, displayed an interesting resistance-temperature profile from 300-35K.

We present experimental studies of transport properties of (TMTSF)2BrO4 and (BEDTTTF)2I3. The behaviour of the TMTSF salt suggests transport via variable-range hopping among localized states. The BEDTTTF-salt exhibits thermopower which indicates almost isotropic metallic behaviour in the ab-plane.

The structure of (TMTSF)2BF4 at 20 K has been determined from neutron diffraction data. It is completely ordered after both fast (6.0 deg. min -1) and slow (0.1 deg min -1) cooling through the metal-insulator (MI) transition at 40 K. Significant interactions in the 20 K dimerized phase include both short cation-cation (Se … Se) and cation-anion (Se … F and -CH3 … F) contacts.

A comparison of the x-ray photoelectron spectra in TMTSF, (TMTSF)2ClO4, and (TMTSF)2ReO4, shows that the spectra of Se(3d5/2) for the first is nearly symmetrical, whereas those for the other two are broadened asymmetrically. The broadening is associated with polarization of the selenium by the anion.

Scaling relationships for Nmr spin-lattice relaxation time T1 and Gaussian transverse relaxation tme T2G c reviewed and applied to analyse experiments in the normal state of YBa2Cu4O8. Studies of T2G in the superconducting state are analysed using the theory of Pines and Wrobel to show a preference for d-state orbital pairing over anisotropic s-state. Data on 13C Nmr in the normal and superconducting state of the two dimensional organic conductor (ET)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br are presented and shown to have great similarity to that of the cuprates.

Atomic force microscopy contact forces are shown to obey a Poisson distribution, so that the ratio of their variance to mean gives the force of a single chemical bond between the tip and sample. The derived single-bond force was able to distinguish nominal van der Waals interactions (60 ± 3 pN) from hydrogen-bond interactions (181 ± 35 pN) between atomic force microscope tips and gold and mica surfaces, respectively. This technique greatly reduced sampling time and sample wear, allowed quantitative use of low-resolution force data from a commercially available instrument, and detected important chemical differences between surface functional groups on the samples. These experiments constitute an important step in obtaining chemically specific information in atomic force microscopy.