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Rat hepatocytes have previously been reported to possess prostaglandin E₂ receptors of the EP₃-type (EP₃-receptors) that inhibit glucagonstimulated glycogenolysis by decreasing cAMP. Here, the isolation of a functional EP₃ϐ receptor cDNA clone from a rat hepatocyte cDNA library is reported. This clone can be translated into a 362-amino-acid protein, that displays over 95% homology to the EP₃ϐ receptor from mouse mastocytoma. The amino- and carboxy-terminal region of the protein are least conserved. Transiently transfected HEK 293 cells expressed a single binding site for PGE₂ with an apparent Kd of 15 nM. PGE₂ > PGF₂α > PGD₂ competed for [³H]PGE₂ binding sites as did the EP₃ receptor agonists M&B 28767 = sulprostone > misoprostol but not the EP₁ receptor antagonist SC 19220. In stably transfected CHO cells M&B 28767 > sulprostone = PGE₂ > misoprostol > PGF₂α inhibited the forskolin-elicited cAMP formation. Thus, the characteristics of the EP₃ϐ receptor of rat hepatocytes closely resemble those of the EP₃ϐ receptor of mouse mastocytoma.
In cultured rat hepatocytes the key gluconeogenic enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK) is known to be induced by glucagon via an elevation of cAMP. Prostaglandin E₂ has been shown to antagonize the glucagon-activated cAMP formation, glycogen phosphorylase activity and glucose output in hepatocytes. It was the purpose of the current investigation to study the potential of PGE₂ to inhibit the glucagon-induced expression of PCK on the level of mRNA and enzyme activity. PCK mRNA and enzyme activity were increased by 0.1 nM glucagon to a maximum after 2 h and 4 h, respectively. This increase was completely inhibited if 10 μM PGE2 was added concomitantly with glucagon. This inhibition by PGE₂ of glucagon-induced PCK activity was abolished by pertussis toxin treatment. When added at the maximum of PCK mRNA at 2 h, PGE₂ accelerated the decay of mRNA and reduced enzyme activity. This effect was not reversed by pertussis toxin treatment. Since in liver PGE₂ is derived from Kupffer cells, which play a key role in the local inflammatory response, the present data imply that during inflammation PGE₂ may reduce the hepatic gluconeogenic capacity via a Gᵢ-linked signal chain.
A detailed theoretical investigation of the reflection of an atomic de Broglie wave at an evanescent wave mirror is presented. The classical and the semiclassical descriptions of the reflection process are reviewed, and a full wave-mechanical approach based on the analytical soution of the corresponding Schrödinger equation is presented. The phase shift at reflection is calculated exactly and interpreted in terms of instantaneous reflection of the atom at an effective mirror. Besides the semiclassical regime of reflection describable by the WKB method, a pure quantum regime of reflection is identified in the limit where the incident de Broglie wavelength is large compared to the evanescent wave decay length.
A novel atomic beam splitter, using reflection of atoms off an evanescent light wave, is investigated theoretically. The intensity or frequency of the light is modulated in order to create sidebands on the reflected de Broglie wave. The weights and phases of the various sidevands are calculated using three different approaches: the Born approximation, a semiclassical path integral approach, and a numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrdinger equation. We show how this modulated mirror could be used to build practical atomic interferometers.
We present a semiclassical perturbation method for the description of atomic diffraction by a weakly modulated potential. It proceeds in a way similar to the treatment of light diffraction by a thin phase grating, and consists in calculating the atomic wavefunction by means of action integrals along the classical trajectories of the atoms in the absence of the modulated part of the potential. The capabilities and the validity condition of the method are illustrated on the well-known case of atomic diffraction by a Gaussian standing wave. We prove that in this situation the perturbation method is equivalent to the Raman-Nath approximation, and we point out that the usually-considered Raman-Nath validity condition can lead to inaccuracies in the evaluation of the phases of the diffraction amplitudes. The method is also applied to the case of an evanescent wave reflection grating, and an analytical expression for the diffraction pattern at any incidence angle is obtained for the first time. Finally, the application of the method to other situations is briefly discussed.
After a review of previous work on the prosody of emotional involvement, data extracts from natural conversations are analyzed in order to argue for the constitution of an 'emphatic (speech) style', which linguistic devices are used to signal heightened emotive involvement. Participants use prosodic cues, in co-occurrence with syntactic and lexical cues, to contextualize turn-constructional units as 'emphatic'. Only realizations of prosodic categories that are marked in relation to surrounding uses of these categories have the power to contextualize units as displaying 'more-than-normal involvement'. In the appropriate context, and in cooccurrence with syntactic and lexical cues and sequential position, the context-sensitive interpretation of this involvement is 'emphasis'. Prosodic marking is used in addition to various unmarked cues that signal and constitute different activity types in conversation. Emphatic style highlights and reinforms particular conversational activities, and makes certain types of recipient responses locally relevant. In particular, switches from non-emphatic to emphatic style are used to contextualize 'peaks of involvement' or 'climaxes' in story-telling. These are shown in the paper to be 'staged' by speakers and treated by recipients as marked activities calling for displays of alignment with respect to the matter at hand. Signals of emphasis are deployable as techniques for locally organizing demonstrations of shared understanding and participant reciprocity in conversational interaction.
A paradigm for the determination of time-accuracy functions (TAFs) for individual participants is introduced for two pairs of tasks differing in cognitive complexity, that is, word scanning vs cued recognition and figural scanning vs figural reasoning. TAFs can be used to test dissociations of cognitive processes beyond scale-related ambiguities of ordinal interactions. The approach is applied to examine the cognitive-aging hypothesis that a single slowing factor can account for interactions between adult age and cognitive task complexity. Twenty young and 20 old adults participated in 17 sessions. Presentation times required for 75, 87.5, and 100% accuracies were determined for each task with a variant of the psychophysical method of limits. Accuracy was fit by negatively accelerated functions of presentation time. State-trace analyses showed that different slowing factors are required for high- and low-complexity tasks. Relations to speed-accuracy and performance-resource functions are discussed.
This study investigated the relation between interest in four different subject areas (mathematics, biology, English, history) and the quality of experience in class. The strength of interest as a predictor of experience was contrasted with that of achievement motivation and scholastic ability. A total of208 highly able freshmen and sophomores completed interest ratings, an achievement motivation questionnaire, and the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT). These assessments were followed by one week of experience sampling. In addition, grades were available for the subject areas involved. The results showed that interest was a significant predictor of the experience of potency, intrinsic motivation, self-esteem, and perception of skill. Controlling for ability and achievement motivation did not decrease the strength of these relations. Achievement motivation and ability proved to be considerably weaker predictors of the quality of experience than was interest. In addition, interest contributed significantly to the prediction of grades in mathematics, biology, and history, but not English. The main results and some limitations of the study are discussed, and suggestions for future research are made.
The prepaparation of amorphous, homogeneous blends of zwitterionic polymers and transition metal salts was investigated. Homogeneous miscibility was achieved in many cases up to equimolar amounts of salt, depending on the anion and cation chosen. Various analytical techniques point to a solid state solution of the inorganic ions in the polymer matrix.