Increased Photosensitivity in HL60 Cells Expressing Wild-Type p53

Loss of p53 function has been correlated with decreased sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiation therapy in a variety of human tumors. Comparable analysis of p53 status with sensitivity to oxidative stress induced by pho-todynamic therapy has not been reported. In the current study we examined photosensitivity in human promye-locytic leukemia HL60 cells exhibiting either wild-type p53, mutated p53 or deleted p53 expression. Experiments were performed using a purpurin, tin ethyl etiopurpurin (SnET2)-, or a porphyrin, Photofrin (PH)-based photo-sensitizer. Total SnET2 accumulation was comparable in all three cell lines. Uptake of PH was highest in cells expressing wild-type p53 but incubation conditions could be adjusted to achieve equivalent cellular PH levels during experiments that analyzed photosensitivity. Survival measurements demonstrated that HL60 cells expressing wild-type p53 were more sensitive to PH- and SnET2-mediated photosensitization, as well as to UVC irradiation, when compared to HL60 cells exhibiting deleted or mutated p53 phenotypes. A rapid apoptotic response was observed following purpurin- and porphyrin-induced photosensitization in all cell lines. Results of this study indicate that photosensitivity is increased in HL60 cells expressing wild-type p53 and that photosensitizer-medi-ated oxidative stress can induce apoptosis through a p53-independent mechanism in HL60 cells .     

A selective synthesis of 4‐bromo‐2‐furancarboxaldehyde and its pinacolborane derivative

A selective synthesis of ethylene acetal of 4‐bromo‐2‐furancarboxaldehyde ( 4 ) and its pinacolborane derivative ( 5 ) is described. The synthesis was carried out using 2‐furancarboxaldehyde ( 1 ) that was bromi‐nated to 4,5‐dibromo‐2‐furancarboxaldehyde ( 2 ) in an emulsion of aluminum chloride and methylene chloride. The product was isolated, protected as ethylene acetal, and selectively debrominated to the ethylene acetal of 4‐bromo‐2‐furancarboxaldehyde ( 4 ) in one step. This moiety was reacted with pinacolborane to give a reactive reagent of Suzuki coupling.     

Femtosecond dynamics of secondary radiation formation from quantum well excitons

The time-resolved secondary emission of resonantly created excitons in GaAs quantum wells is studied using femtosecond up-conversion spectroscopy. The behaviour of the rise and decay of the secondary emission and reflectivity in quantum wells is strongly dependent upon the disorder at the interfaces, the exciton density and the temperature. In the case of low densities and temperatures the emission is independent of the exciton density and rises quadratically in time, in excellent agreement with recent theory for Rayleigh scattering from two-dimensional excitons subjected to disorder. These rise times are compared directly with times measured by time-integrated four-wave mixing (FWM). The comparison of the dynamics displayed in time-resolved secondary radiation and time-integrated FWM provide a clear understanding of the coherence properties of QW excitons in the first few picoseconds after excitation. High-contrast oscillations that are due to quantum beats between the heavy- and light-hole 1s-states are seen. The visibility decay at very low densities is long ps and is related to the action of potential fluctuations on the scattering of heavy-hole and light-hole excitons.     

On the use of the Galerkin method for 3D numerical modelling of the general circulation: the South Atlantic eperiment

A linear three‐dimensional hydrodynamical numerical model, with the application of the Galerkin Method for the vertical dependence, is here presented. The spherical coordinate system is used, in order to allow large‐scale simulations. The equations and mathematical development of the model are shown in detail, together with the boundary and initial conditions, and the sequence of equations' solution. The model is applied to the South Atlantic Ocean, for estimating typical seasonal circulations, and the results are summarized in maps of currents at surface and 1000 m depth, and in transport values of the Brazil Current between 30°S and 40°S. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equivariant quantization on quotients of simple Lie groups by reductive subgroups of maximal rank

We consider a class of homogeneous manifolds including all semisimple coadjoint orbits. We describe manifolds of that class admitting deformation quantizations equivariant under the action ofG and the corresponding quantum group. We also classify Poisson brackets relating to such quantizations. Presented at the 11th Colloquium “Quantum Groups and Integrable Systems”, Prague, 20–22 June 2002.     

Equivalence of Toda-Hopf invariants

In this paper it is shown that various existing constructions of ‘Hopf invariant’ are equivalent to each other. In consequence one gets that the oneToda-Hopf invariant enjoys various properties. Both authors supported in part by the NSF.     

Crutch or Catalyst: Teachers' Beliefs and Practices Regarding Calculator use in Mathematics Instruction

This study investigated K‐12 teachers' beliefs and reported teaching practices regarding calculator use in their mathematics instruction. A survey was administered to more than 800 elementary, middle and high school teachers in a large metropolitan area to address the following questions: (a) what are the beliefs and practices of mathematics teachers regarding calculator use? and (b) how do these beliefs and practices differ among teachers in three grade bands? Factor analysis of 20 Likert scale items revealed four factors that accounted for 54% of the variance in the ratings. These factors were named Catalyst Beliefs, Teacher Knowledge, Crutch Beliefs, and Teacher Practices. Compared to elementary teachers, high school teachers were significantly higher in their perception of calculator use as a catalyst in mathematics instruction. However, the higher the grade level of the teacher, the higher the mean score on the perception that calculator use may be a way of getting answers without understanding mathematical processes. The mean scores for teachers in all three grade bands indicated agreement that students can learn mathematics through calculator use and using calculators in instruction will lead to better student understanding and make mathematics more interesting. The survey results shed light on teachers' self reported beliefs, knowledge, and practices in regard to consistency with elements of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000) technology principle and the NCTM use of technology position paper (2003). This study extended previous research on teachers' beliefs regarding calculator use in classrooms by examining and comparing the results of teacher surveys across three grade bands.     

Strong, low-energy two-photon absorption in extended amine-terminated cyano-substituted phenylenevinylene oligomers

Three quadrupolar oligophenylenevinylenes with five rings in the conjugated backbone, terminal donor groups, and various acceptors and/or donors along the backbone were synthesized and their two-photon spectroscopic properties investigated. These chromophores exhibit large two-photon absorption cross sections over a wide wavelength range and two distinct peaks, the strongest of which (deltamax > 3600 GM) is observed at 960-970 nm, a wavelength close to twice the value of the linear absorption maximum (2lambda(1)max). The findings on these chromophores are compared with those for analogous molecules with shorter conjugation length, for which the main two-photon band is at significantly shorter wavelength than 2lambda(1)max.