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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Orientation of emitting dipoles of chlorophyll A in thylakoids: considerations on the orientation factor in vivo.

Orientation angles of five emitting dipoles of chlorophyll a in thylakoids were estimated from low temperature fluorescence polarization ratio spectra of magnetically oriented chloroplasts. A simple expression is given also for the evaluation of data from linear dichroism measurements. It is shown that the Qy dipoles of chlorophylls lie more in the plane of the membranes and span a larger angular interval than was previously thought. Values for the orientation factor are calculated using various models corresponding to different degrees of local order of the Qy dipoles of chlorophylls in the thylakoid. We show that the characteristic orientation pattern of the Qy dipoles of chlorophylls in the membrane, i.e., increasing dichroism toward longer wavelengths, may favour energy transfer between the antenna chlorophylls as well as funnel the excitation energy into the reaction centers.

Chlorophyll↗

Orientation dependency for foveal line stimuli: detection and intensity discrimination, resolution, orientation discrimination and vernier acuity.

Thresholds were measured for five tasks: line detection, intensity discrimination, two-line resolution, vernier acuity and line-orientation discrimination. For each task, 30 arcmin lines were presented foveally in eight retinal meridians to assess similarities in orientation anisotropies across tasks in the same observer. Three observers were tested. The pattern of the orientation anisotropy differs across tasks. Meridional anisotropies exist in detection, increment discrimination thresholds, and vernier acuity but the classical oblique effect is consistently found only in orientation discrimination.

Discrimination, Psychological↗

Cure-oriented versus care-oriented attitudes in medicine.

This article focuses on the attitudinal component of patient-centredness. The literature reveals that the relationship between cure- and care-oriented attitudes remains to be clarified. The aim of this study is to gain further insight in the relationship between cure and care attitudes by questioning the bipolar unidimensional structure of the concept. By means of an empirical analysis among Belgian medical students, the cure versus care attitudes regarding the 'ideal physician' are investigated. Traits of the ideal physician are described in a bipolar rating scale reflecting cure-oriented versus care-oriented views of the medical profession. Subjects included 88 medical students of the Limburgs University Centre in Diepenbeek, Belgium. Results indicate that the Belgian sample is less care-oriented than the Dutch sample.Further, a factor-analysis reveals two components which correspond with the instrumental (cure) and the affective dimension (care) of the medical profession. The advantages of a two-dimensional framework as a basis for the development of courses aimed at attitude development in the curriculum of a medical school are discussed.

Affect↗

Structure and orientation of the oxygen-evolving manganese complex of green algae and higher plants investigated by X-ray absorption linear dichroism spectroscopy on oriented photosystem II membrane particles.

X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Mn K-edge has been performed on multilayers of photosystem II-enriched fragments of the native thylakoid membrane prepared from a higher plant (spinach) and a unicellular green alga (Scenedesmus obliquus). Spectra collected for various angles between the prevailing orientation of the thylakoid membrane normal and the X-ray electric field vector contain information on the atomic structure of the tetranuclear manganese complex of photosystem II (PS II) and its orientation with respect to the membrane normal. The previously used approach for evaluation of the dichroism of extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra [George, G. N., et al. (1989) Science 243, 789-791] is modified, and the following results are obtained for PS II in its dark-stable state (S1-state): (1) structure and orientation of the PS II manganese complexes of green algae and higher plants are highly similiar or fully identical; (2) two 2.7-A vectors, which, most likely, connect the Mn nuclei of a planar Mn2(mu-O2) structure, are at an average angle of 80 degrees +/- 10 degrees with respect to the thylakoid normal; (3) the plane of the Mn2(mu-O2) structures is rather in parallel with the thylakoid plane than perpendicular. Structural models for the oxygen-evolving manganese complex and its orientation in the thylakoid membrane are discussed within the context of the presented results.

Chlorophyta↗

Direct determination of changes of interdomain orientation on ligation: use of the orientational dependence of 15N NMR relaxation in Abl SH(32).

The relative orientation and motions of domains within many proteins are key to the control of multivalent recognition, or the assembly of protein-based cellular machines. Current methods of structure determination have limited applicability to macromolecular assemblies, characterized by weak interactions between the constituents. Crystal structures of such complexes might be biased by packing forces comparable to the interdomain interactions, while the precision and accuracy of the conventional NMR structural approaches are necessarily limited by the restricted number of NOE contacts and by interdomain flexibility rendering the available NOE information uninterpretable. NMR relaxation studies are capable of providing "long-range" structural information on macromolecules in their native milieu. Here we determine directly the change in domain orientation between unligated and dual ligated subdomains of the SH(32) segment of Abelson kinase in solution, using the orientational dependence of nuclear spin relaxation. These results demonstrate that the change in domain orientation between unligated and ligated forms can be measured directly in solution.

Amides↗

Orientation discrimination for bars defined by orientation texture.

A texture pattern consisting of short (0.2 deg) lines contained a 5.0 deg x 1.4 deg texture-defined bar. The bar was rendered visible by the difference in orientation (2 theta) between the lines inside the bar and outside the bar. Orientation-discrimination threshold for the texture-defined bar was a U-shaped function of 2 theta over the range 2 theta = 0 degree to 2 theta = 180 degrees. The lowest threshold was at 2 theta = 90 degrees, and was 0.57 degrees for both subjects tested. This threshold was little different from the lowest values of threshold for motion-defined bars, disparity-defined bars, and colour-defined gratings reported elsewhere. A luminance-defined bar was created by switching off all texture lines outside the texture-defined bar. Orientation-discrimination threshold fell to a limiting value as the luminance contrast of this bar was progressively increased. The lowest value of orientation discrimination for the luminance-defined bar (0.42 degrees and 0.35 degrees for the two subjects) was not greatly less than the lowest value for the texture-defined bar.

Adult↗

Global orientation disrupts the detection of a similar local orientation.

Two experiments were carried out with organised displays in order to examine the role of similarity between global and local orientation in visual search. In both experiments, distractors were organised to form a diagonal line of plus or minus 45 degrees. In experiment 1, target displays were presented tachistoscopically. Participants searched for a target letter 'Q' among distractor letters 'O'. In experiment 2, participants performed a heterogeneity task with target line segments that could have an orientation of either plus or minus 45 degrees. The target appeared partly or completely inside a distractor circle. In both experiments, the target was more difficult to detect when the critical feature aligned with the slope of the global diagonal than when the feature did not align. Taken together, the two experiments suggested a sequential global-to-local processing in which the orientation of the global figure disrupts the detection of a similar local orientation.

Adult↗

Base orientation of second DNA in RecA.DNA filaments. Analysis by combination of linear dichroism and small angle neutron scattering in flow-oriented solution.

To gain insight into the mechanism of pairing two complementary DNA strands by the RecA protein, we have determined the nucleobase orientation of the first and the second bound DNA strands in the RecA.DNA filament by combined measurements of linear dichroism and small angle neutron scattering on flow-oriented samples. An etheno-modified DNA, poly(depsilonA) was adapted as the first DNA and an oligo(dT) as the second DNA, making it possible to distinguish between the linear dichroism signals of the two DNA strands. The results indicate that binding of the second DNA does not alter the nucleobase orientation of the first bound strand and that the bases of the second DNA are almost coplanar to the bases of the first strand although somewhat more tilted (60 degrees relative to the fiber axis compared with 70 degrees for the first DNA strand). Similar results were obtained for the RecA.DNA complex formed with unmodified poly(dA) and oligo(dT). An almost coplanar orientation of nucleobases of two DNA strands in a RecA-DNA filament would facilitate scanning for, and recognition of, complementary base sequences. The slight deviation from co-planarity could increase the free energy of the duplex to facilitate dissociation in case of mismatching base sequences.

DNA↗

Applying object-oriented technologies in modeling and querying temporally oriented clinical databases dealing with temporal granularity and indeterminacy.

The need of managing temporal information given at different levels of granularity or with indeterminacy is common to many application areas. Among them, we focus on clinical data management. Different time granularities and indeterminacy are also needed in querying temporal databases. In this paper, we describe GCH-OSQL (Granular Clinical History-Object Structured Query Language), an object-oriented temporally-oriented extension of SQL. GCH-OSQL is based on an object-oriented temporal data model, GCH-OODM. GCH-OODM allows storage of clinical information at different and mixed granularities or with temporal indeterminacy. GCH-OSQL deals with the valid time of clinical information. The temporal extension of the SELECT construct includes the addition of the TIME-SLICE and MOVING WINDOW clauses, and the capability to reference the temporal dimension of objects in the WHERE and SELECT clauses. Using object-oriented technologies, a system prototype for GCH-OSQL and GCH-OODM has been implemented and applied to data management of follow-up patients after coronary angioplasty intervention.

Computer Simulation↗

Target-oriented and diversity-oriented organic synthesis in drug discovery.

Modern drug discovery often involves screening small molecules for their ability to bind to a preselected protein target. Target-oriented syntheses of these small molecules, individually or as collections (focused libraries), can be planned effectively with retrosynthetic analysis. Drug discovery can also involve screening small molecules for their ability to modulate a biological pathway in cells or organisms, without regard for any particular protein target. This process is likely to benefit in the future from an evolving forward analysis of synthetic pathways, used in diversity-oriented synthesis, that leads to structurally complex and diverse small molecules. One goal of diversity-oriented syntheses is to synthesize efficiently a collection of small molecules capable of perturbing any disease-related biological pathway, leading eventually to the identification of therapeutic protein targets capable of being modulated by small molecules. Several synthetic planning principles for diversity-oriented synthesis and their role in the drug discovery process are presented in this review.

Chemistry, Pharmaceutical↗

Stimulus-response compatibilities between vertically oriented stimuli and horizontally oriented responses: the effects of hand position and posture.

Stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility effects between vertically oriented stimuli (above or below fixation) and horizontally oriented responses (left or right switch deflections by a single hand) have been shown to depend both on which hand responds (Bauer & Miller, 1982) and on the location at which the response is made (eccentricity on a frontoparallel line; Michaels, 1989). In the latter study, hand position and hand posture were confounded, so it is unclear which variable determined the compatibility effect. In Experiment 1, the importance of effector position was tested. Vertically oriented stimuli were paired with a horizontal response solicited at different locations but always involving the same hand posture. Compatibility effects emerged, and their direction depended on position. In Experiment 2, the compatibilities were not evident in a simple reaction time paradigm, so the effect was not due to differential ease of responses. In Experiment 3, a change in hand posture (palm up or palm down) at the same location (the body midline) also affected the compatibilities. It was concluded that the S-R compatibility of orthogonally oriented stimuli and responses is influenced by (1) which hand responds, (2) the location of that hand, and (3) its posture. The results imply that both postural and positional states of the action system affect S-R compatibility.

Fixation, Ocular↗

The feminization of American medicine. The transformation of health care from a masculine orientation to a more feminine orientation requires a new marketing approach.

Although the transformation of American medicine in the last part of the twentieth century has been well documented, a major development that has significant implications for health care marketing has been essentially overlooked. This development has been the shift in health care from a primarily masculine orientation to a primarily feminine orientation. This shift has been driven by, among other factors, the transition from an acute care orientation to a chronic care orientation and calls for a qualitatively different approach to the marketing of health services.

Acute Disease↗

Body tilt effect on the reproduction of orientations: studies on the visual oblique effect and subjective orientations.

Body tilt effects on the visual reproduction of orientations and the Class 2 oblique effect (E. A. Essock, 1980) were examined. Body tilts indicate whether the oblique effect (i.e., lower performance in oblique orientations than in vertical-horizontal orientations) is defined in an egocentric or a gravitational reference frame. Results showed that the oblique effect observed in upright posture disappeared in tilted conditions, mainly due to a decrease in the precision of the vertical and horizontal settings. In tilted conditions, the subjective visual vertical proved to be the orientation reproduced the most precisely. Thus, the oblique effect seemed to be not purely gravitationally or egocentrically defined but, rather, to depend on a subjective gravitational reference frame tilted in the same direction as body tilts.

Adult↗

Future time orientation and employment of individuals with a spinal cord injury: does current work status reflect a greater orientation toward the future?

Differences in future time orientation were investigated among 317 individuals with spinal cord injuries according to work status. The results of an analysis of variance indicated a significant difference on future time orientation between individuals with an active community role (full-time or part-time employed, student, or volunteer) versus a non-active community role (unemployed or retired). In a post-hoc analysis of covariance (with depression as the covariate), these differences between work statuses on future time orientation were no longer significant, though a significant main effect by depression was observed. In both analyses, individuals with active community roles had higher future time orientation scores than individuals without active community roles. Suggestions for future research were briefly proposed.

Adolescent↗

[Orientation of the cleavage spindles in pulmonate mollusks. I. The role of the form of the blastomeres in 2d cleavage spindle orientation].

In the normal two-celled embryos of various pulmonate molluscs, the orientation of spindles characteristic of metaanaphase is being frequently established gradually, in the process of transition from pro- to metaphase accompained by the growth of spindle and asters. The typical growth of contact zone between the blastomeres of the common pond snail embryos was inhibited to a different extent under their cultivation after the 1 cleavage division in the calcium-free media or after trypsinization. At the same time the orientation of meta-anaphase spindles was markedly affected (as judged by an angle alpha between the spindle axis and the plane of contact zone in the equatorial projection). When analyzing the model distributions of the angles between the two spindle axes (in the same projection), it was shown that the empirical distributions of these angles corresponded to the principle of stochastic combination of two alpha. A conclusion is drawn that the orientation of one spindle does not depend on that of another but the position of each of them depends on the size of the contact zone and, hence, on the general form of the adjacent blastomere region. Some other processes determining the spindle orientation are discussed.

Anaphase↗

[Orientation of the cleavage spindles in pulmonate mollusks. II. The role of the architecture of the intercellular contacts in III and IV cleavage spindle orientation].

In the normal development of pulmonate molluscs, the variety of orientations of the III and IV cleavage spindles markedly reduces in the process of transition from pro- to meta- and anaphase. Even prior to the completion of spindle growth in these cleavage divisions the external faces of blastomeres become asymmetrical due to intercellular interactions but the whole system of external intercellular contacts (edges) is characterized by a certain symmetry. This symmetry coincides partially or fully with that of the system of definitive spindles. In the artificially obtained four-celled common pond snail embryos with the chain-like position of blastomeres, the III cleavage spindles were oriented at right angles to the polar axis, rather than in parallel with it (as in the normal development). The eight-celled embryos with symmetrical external faces of macromeres were also obtained. The variety of orientation of the IV cleavage definitive spindles in such embryos was markedly widened and in the macromeres with inverse asymmetry the inversion of the sign of declination of the spindles was observed. The spindle orientation depends, thus, on the form of adjacent region of the external face. This form as a whole is determined by the mutual position of blastomeres, curvature of surface and relative length of the face edges.

Anaphase↗

Role of the superior colliculus in analyses of space: superficial and intermediate layer contributions to visual orienting, auditory orienting, and visuospatial discriminations during unilateral and bilateral deactivations.

The superior colliculus (SC) has been implicated in spatial analyses of the environment, although few behavioral studies have explicitly tested this role. To test its imputed role in spatial analyses, we used a battery of four spatial tasks combined with unilateral and bilateral cooling deactivation of the upper and intermediate layers of the superior colliculus. We tested the abilities of cats to orient to three different stimuli: (1) moving visual, (2) stationary visual, (3) stationary white-noise aural. Furthermore, we tested the ability of the cats to discriminate the relative spatial position of a landmark. Unilateral cooling deactivation of the superficial layers of the SC induced a profound neglect of both moving and stationary visual stimuli presented in, and landmark objects located within, the contralateral hemifield. However, responses to auditory stimuli were unimpaired. Unilateral cooling deactivation of both the superficial and intermediate layers induced a profound contralateral neglect of the auditory stimulus. Additional and equivalent deactivation of the opposite SC largely restored orienting to either moving visual or auditory stimuli, and restored landmark position reporting to normal levels. However, during bilateral SC deactivation, orienting to the static visual stimulus was abolished throughout the entire visual field. Overall, unilateral SC deactivation results show that the upper and intermediate layers of the SC contribute in different ways to guiding behavioral responses to visual and auditory stimuli cues. Finally, bilateral superior colliculus deactivations reveal that other structures are sufficient to support spatial analyses and guide visual behaviors in the absence of neural operations in the superior colliculus, but only under certain circumstances.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Orientation in birds. Satellite tracking: a new method in orientation research.

The study of bird migration by satellite tracking began in the 1980s, after transmitters had become sufficiently small to allow the monitoring of larger migrating species. The initial studies in this direction were all successful with respect to establishing this method (Section 2) of elucidating new migration patterns and various aspects of orientation. These pilot studies are summarized in Section 3, Table 1, Figures 1-4. We believe that studies on avian orientation and navigation will, in general, greatly benefit from satellite tracking if some prerequisites are fulfilled and adequate experiments planned (Section 4). In future studies, smaller transmitters with increased life expectancies are needed, and possible effects of these transmitters on bird behaviour must be examined. Considerable improvement of satellite tracking in avian orientation research is to be expected, along with the development of a new generation of satellites allowing communication between satellites and transmitters (Sections 4, 5).

Animals↗