Non-Cuprate-Planar Superconductivity

The ruthenate compounds, Gd_2–zCe _z Sr₂Cu₂RuO₁₀, GdSr₂Cu₂RuO₈, and doped Sr₂YRuO₆, all superconduct in their SrO layers, which is why they have almost the same 49 K onset temperatures for superconductivity. The sister compound Ba₂GdRuO₆, either doped or not, does not superconduct, because L = 0, J 0 Gd breaks pairs and destroys superconductivity in the potentially superconducting BaO layers. High-temperature superconductivity resides in the SrO or BaO layers, or in interstitial-oxygen regions of the crystal, not in the cuprate-planes.     

Sr2YRu1−uCuuO6: Evidence for SrO-Layer Superconductivity

Sr₂YRuO₆ doped on its Ru site by Cu superconducts at the below ～45 K, although its Ru and Cu are magnetically ordered at ～23 K and ～86 K, respectively. The SrO layers superconduct. Ba₂GdRuO₆, when doped with Cu, does not superconduct, because L = 0 Gd is not crystal-field split, and so induces Cooper pair-breaking.     

Super‐Absorbent Polymer Valves and Colorimetric Chemistries for Time‐Sequenced Discrete Sampling and Chloride Analysis of Sweat via Skin‐Mounted Soft Microfluidics

This paper introduces super absorbent polymer valves and colorimetric sensing reagents as enabling components of soft, skin‐mounted microfluidic devices designed to capture, store, and chemically analyze sweat released from eccrine glands. The valving technology enables robust means for guiding the flow of sweat from an inlet location into a collection of isolated reservoirs, in a well‐defined sequence. Analysis in these reservoirs involves a color responsive indicator of chloride concentration with a formulation tailored to offer stable operation with sensitivity optimized for the relevant physiological range. Evaluations on human subjects with comparisons against ex situ analysis illustrate the practical utility of these advances.     

"Paradoxical" sex differences in self-reported imagery.

Analyzed male and female response patterns for imagery items on the present authors' (see record 1981-06797-001) Individual Difference Questionnaire. In both a group of 401 male and 328 female undergraduates and a group of 226 male and 80 female geography students, females more frequently reported use of images to remember, vivid images of previously experienced scenes, and spontaneous evocation of images by verbal stimuli. Males more frequently reported using images of parts of a problem to arrive at a solution and the ability to visualize moving objects. Findings are consistent with reported gender differences in spatial transformation and visual memory tasks. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

BRCA1 mRNA is expressed highly during meiosis and spermiogenesis but not during mitosis of male germ cells

The 17q-linked breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA1) is believed to function as a tumor suppressor gene (Miki et al., 1994). In this report BRCA1 RNA expression has been analysed in adult mouse tissues with detailed attention to its expression in prepuberal and adult testis. Measurements of BRCA1 mRNA levels in highly purified somatic cells of the testis and in staged germ cells showed that high level BRCA1 mRNA expression is limited to the germ cells. Within the germ cell lineage, the high level expression was detected in meiotic cells, specifically pachytene spermatocytes and in post-meiotic round spermatids. This is in contrast to premeiotic germ cells which were found to express little or no BRCA1 mRNA. These observations, considered together with recent data on the expression of BRCA1 in breast epithelium, argues against a function for BRACA1 in early progenitor cells in both tissues and cells attention instead to roles intimately associated with terminal differentiation or with final rounds of cell division.