Supporting Preservice Teachers' Understanding of Place Value and Multidigit Arithmetic

This article provides an analysis of a teaching experiment conducted in the context of teacher education designed to support preservice teachers' understandings of place value and multidigit addition and subtraction. The experiment addresses the following research question: Can the results from research conducted in elementary mathematics classrooms guide preservice elementary teachers' development of conceptual understanding of the same concepts? In both cases, the students (e.g., elementary students and preservice teachers) participated in activities from an instructional sequence designed to support conceptual understanding of both place value and multidigit addition and subtraction. Analyses of the episodes from the teaching experiment document the learning of the preservice teachers and how that learning was supported by initial conjectures grounded in the research on elementary students' ways of reasoning.     

Magnetism in very thin films of permalloy measured by spin polarized cascade electrons

The spin polarizationP of the low energy cascade electrons excited with a primary unpolarized electron beam is measured with ultrathin films of permalloy (Ni₈₀Fe₂₀) as a function of film thickness, external magnetic field, and temperatureT. Surface adsorbates of small concentrations of less than 10% of a monolayer can change the Curie point and the saturation value ofP ₀(T0) by as much as 30%. The Ta-substrate induces a magnetically dead region in permalloy. Conventional spin wave theory cannot account for the observed smallT-dependence of the magnetizationM. Films on a nonmagnetic substrate are compared to similar films coupled to bulk permalloy over an interface of Ta. TheT-dependence ofM with the coupled films can be explained by spin wave theory. At lowT, the films coupled to the bulk exhibit a faster decrease ofM than the uncoupled films. We propose that this thermal stabilization of the magnetization in very thin ferromagnetic films is due to quenching of the long wavelength spin modes.     

XPS investigations of ink‐jet printed paper

Different ink‐jet printed paper materials were investigated using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) yielding the elemental composition of the near‐surface region of the papers. We found significant differences with respect to the detected elements and their atomic concentrations in the different inks studied here. Two different groups of inks could be identified by means of a lower ratio of the O and C atomic concentrations and lower concentrations in specific trace elements like Mg, Na and Si. High‐resolution spectra of C 1s and O 1s core levels allowed a detailed determination of the chemical state of the respective elements. On the basis of a detailed deconvolution of these XPS signals, significant differences between all the investigated ink‐jet printed papers were found, thereby allowing their discrimination. The applicability of the measurements and, more generally, the XPS technique for forensic investigations of paper are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Role of physiologic autoantibody in the removal of senescent human red cells.

The mechanism by which mononuclear phagocytes distinguish mature "self" from senescent "self" was investigated. Evidence is presented indicating that human mononuclear phagocytes distinguish senescent RBC from mature RBC on the basis of selective Ig attachment to the membranes of senescent cells. This Ig, eluted from senescent human RBC, was shown to be IgG and free of other Igs by immunodiffusion, immunoelectrophoresis, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The IgG was polyclonal with respect to light chains. The eluted IgG reattaches to homologous stored RBC, but not to mature autologous or allogeneic RBC, via the Fab region. It then initiates phagocytosis of these stored RBC by mononuclear phagocytes. Evidence suggests that the IgG is directed against altered membrane receptors. Thus, this IgG may be a "physiologic" autoantibody and contribute to the maintenance of homeostasis by performing regulatory function.     

Impedance laser spectroscopy in a small RF-excited neon discharge

Laser impedance spectroscopy in a miniature neon RF-discharge operating at 0.27 bar was performed. The dominant role of the metastable atoms to the size and the sign of the RF-signal was investigated. Excellent linearity of the RF-signal but poor detection sensitivity of excited metastable neon atoms were found at low laser powers.     

Investigation of the pharmacokinetics of celecoxib by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

A new method for the quantification of celecoxib in human plasma based on reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) mass spectrometry (MS) after liquid-liquid extraction is presented. The method is rapid, sensitive and highly selective. The retention time of celecoxib was 2.3 min. The limit of quantification was 5 microg/L. Rofecoxib was used as internal standard. After validation, the method was used to study the pharmacokinetic profile of celecoxib following administration of a single oral dose (200 mg) in 12 healthy volunteers. Since celecoxib should be metabolized primarily by cytochrome 2C9 (CYP2C9), a poor metabolizer (PM) for this cytochrome P450 enzyme was included in the study. Pharmacokinetic characteristics (mean +/- SD) of extensive metabolizers (EM) were t(max) 2.9+/-1.2h, c(max) 842+/-280 microg/L, AUC(infinity) 6246+/-2147 microg h/L and t(1/2) 7.8+/-2.7h. The area under the curve (AUC(infinity)) for the PM was 12561 microg h/L. However, we found no noticeable increase in half life in the PM (11.5 h) after a single dose of celecoxib.     

Slow internal dynamics in proteins: application of NMR relaxation dispersion spectroscopy to methyl groups in a cavity mutant of T4 lysozyme

Recently developed carbon transverse relaxation dispersion experiments (Skrynnikov, N. R.; et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 4556-4566) were applied to the study of millisecond to microsecond time scale motions in a cavity mutant of T4 lysozyme (L99A) using methyl groups as probes of dynamics. Protein expressed in E. coli cells with (13)CH(3)-pyruvate as the sole carbon source contained high levels of (13)C enrichment at a total of 80 Val gamma, Leu delta, Ile gamma (2), Ala beta, and Met epsilon methyl positions with little extraneous incorporation. Data for 72 methyl groups were available for analysis. Dispersion profiles with large amplitudes were measured for many of these residues and were well fit to a two-state exchange model. The interconversion rates and populations of the states, obtained from fitting relaxation dispersion profiles of each individual probe, were remarkably homogeneous and data for nearly all methyl groups in the protein could be collectively fit to a single cooperative conformational transition. The present study demonstrates the general applicability of methyl relaxation dispersion measurements for the investigation of millisecond time scale protein motions at a large number of side-chain positions. Potential artifacts associated with the experiments are described and methods to minimize their effects presented. These experiments should be particularly well suited for probing dynamics in high molecular weight systems due to the favorable NMR spectroscopic properties of methyl groups.