Mouse brain expression patterns of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spg7</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Afg3l1</Emphasis>, and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Afg3l2</Emphasis> transcripts,encoding for the mitochondrial <Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis>-AAA protease

Background  

The m-AAA (ATPases Associated with a variety of cellular Activities) is an evolutionary conserved metalloprotease complex located in the internal mitochondrial membrane. In the mouse, it is a hetero-oligomer variably formed by the Spg7, Afg3l1, and Afg3l2 encoded proteins, or a homo-oligomer formed by either Afg3l1 or Afg3l2. In humans, AFG3L2 and SPG7 genes are conserved, whereas AFG3L1 became a pseudogene. Both AFG3L2 and SPG7 are involved in a neurodegenerative disease, namely the autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia SCA28 and a recessive form of spastic paraplegia, respectively.     

An over-expression system for characterizing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ppt1</Emphasis> function in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila</Emphasis>

Background  

The infantile onset form of Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (INCL) is the earliest and most severe form of NCL, with neurological symptoms that reflect massive neurodegeneration in the CNS and retina. INCL is due to recessively inherited mutations at the CLN1 locus. This locus encodes the evolutionarily conserved enzyme palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1), indicating an essential role for protein palmitoylation in normal neuronal function.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">lin-12</Emphasis> Notch functions in the adult nervous system of <Emphasis Type="Italic">C. elegans</Emphasis>

Background  

Notch signaling pathways are conserved across species and traditionally have been implicated in cell fate determination during embryonic development. Notch signaling components are also expressed postdevelopmentally in the brains of adult mice and Drosophila. Recent studies suggest that Notch signaling may play a role in the physiological, rather than developmental, regulation of neurons. Here, we investigate a new non-developmental role for Caenorhabditis elegans lin-12 Notch signaling in neurons regulating the spontaneous reversal rate during locomotion.     

Immunohistological detection of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlamydia pneumoniae</Emphasis> in the Alzheimer's disease brain

Background  

Sporadic late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) appears to evolve from an interplay between genetic and environmental factors. One environmental factor that continues to be of great interest is that of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and its association with late-onset disease. Detection of this organism in clinical and autopsy samples has proved challenging using a variety of molecular and histological techniques. Our current investigation utilized immunohistochemistry with a battery of commercially available anti-C. pneumoniae antibodies to determine whether C. pneumoniae was present in areas typically associated with AD neuropathology from 5 AD and 5 non-AD control brains.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">recombination activation gene 1</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rag1</Emphasis>) is expressed in a subset of zebrafish olfactory neurons but is not essential for axon targeting or amino acid detection

Background  

Rag1 (Recombination activation gene-1) mediates genomic rearrangement and is essential for adaptive immunity in vertebrates. This gene is also expressed in the olfactory epithelium, but its function there is unknown.     

Quantitative measurement of dynamic flow induced by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetrahymena pyriformis</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">T. pyriformis</Emphasis>) using micro-particle image velocimetry

Abstract  

In-depth quantitative visualization studies are required to understand the flow induced by swimming micro-organisms and find potential applications. The present study visualized the flow induced by Tetrahymena pyriformis of size 45–50 μm, which swam freely and via stimulation by galvanotaxis in a PDMS micro-chamber using a micro-particle image velocimetry system. The results showed that the maximum velocity of the induced flow was around 430 μm/s for free swimming and 700 μm/s for galvanotactic-controlled swimming. Due to the applied electric field, the electro-osmosis flow led to increased velocity of roughly 135 μm/s at 3 V/mm. The increased velocity stems from the increased motility of the cell under the electric field. Therefore, it was demonstrated that galvanotaxis can control the swimming direction and increase the induced velocity.     

The Dirac Operator on <Emphasis Type="Italic">SU</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis></Subscript>(2)

We construct a 3⁺-summable spectral triple over the quantum group SU_q(2) which is equivariant with respect to a left and a right action of The geometry is isospectral to the classical case since the spectrum of the operator D is the same as that of the usual Dirac operator on the 3-dimensional round sphere. The presence of an equivariant real structure J demands a modification in the axiomatic framework of spectral geometry, whereby the commutant and first-order properties need be satisfied only modulo infinitesimals of arbitrary high order.Partially supported by Polish State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN) under grant 2 P03B 022 25.Regular Associate of the Abdus Salam ICTP, Trieste.     

Generation of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Staphylococcus aureus</Emphasis> by a novel semiconductor catalyst

The objective of this study was to investigate antimicrobial mechanisms of a new catalytic material (charge transfer auto oxidation–reduction type catalyst, CT catalyst) that may have great potential for application in water/wastewater treatment. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in bacteria-free solution, induction of ROS and oxidative damage in bacteria (including E. coli and S. aureus) were examined for the CT catalyst. The results showed that significantly higher (p < 0.05, via t-test) amount of hydroxyl radicals was generated by the CT catalyst compared with the control, particularly after 6 h of contact time that more than twice of the amount of the control was produced. The generation of ROS in the bacteria was greater under higher pH and temperature levels, which closely related with the oxidative damage in cells. The results indicated that CT catalyst induced oxidative damage in the bacteria might serve as an important mechanism interpreting the anti-microbial function of the CT catalyst.     

Study of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis> = <Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis> nuclei in variation-after-projection framework

Variation-after-projection (VAP) calculations in conjunction with the Hartree- Bogoliubov (HB) ansatz have been carried out for A = 68-88, N = Z nuclei. In this framework, the yrast spectra with , B(E2) transition probabilities and deformation parameter ( ) have been obtained. A pairing interaction for like particles as well as protons and neutrons has been included in the model for a two-body interaction.Received: 28 April 2003, Revised: 20 March 2004, Published online: 14 September 2004PACS: 21.10.-k Properties of nuclei; nuclear energy levels - 21.60.-n Nuclear structure models and methods - 27.50. + e      

<Emphasis Type="Italic">parkin</Emphasis> counteracts symptoms in a <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila</Emphasis> model of Parkinson's disease

Background

Parkinson's disease, a prevalent neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by the reduction of dopaminergic neurons resulting in the loss of motor control, resting tremor, the formation of neuronal inclusions and ultimately premature death. Two inherited forms of PD have been linked to mutations in the α-synuclein and parkin genes. The parkin protein functions as an ubiquitin ligase targeting specific proteins for degradation. Expression of human α-synuclein in Drosophila neurons recapitulates the loss of motor control, the development of neuronal inclusions, degeneration of dopaminergic neurons and the ommatidial array to provide an excellent genetic model of PD.

Results

To investigate the role of parkin, we have generated transgenic Drosophila that conditionally express parkin under the control of the yeast UAS enhancer. While expression of parkin has little consequence, co-expression of parkin with α-synuclein in the dopaminergic neurons suppresses the α-synuclein-induced premature loss of climbing ability. In addition directed expression of parkin in the eye counteracts the α-synuclein-induced degeneration of the ommatidial array. These results show that parkin suppresses the PD-like symptoms observed in the α-synuclein-dependent Drosophila model of PD.

Conclusion

The highly conserved parkin E3 ubiquitin ligase can suppress the damaging effects of human α-synuclein. These results are consistent with a role for parkin in targeting α-synuclein to the proteasome. If this relationship is conserved in humans, this suggests that up-regulation of parkin should suppress α-synucleinopathic PD. The development of therapies that regulate parkin activity may be crucial in the treatment of PD.

     

Genes involved in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila</Emphasis>glutamate receptor expression and localization

Background  

A clear picture of the mechanisms controlling glutamate receptor expression, localization, and stability remains elusive, possibly due to an incomplete understanding of the proteins involved. We screened transposon mutants generated by the ongoing Drosophila Gene Disruption Project in an effort to identify the different types of genes required for glutamate receptor cluster development.     

Prior exposure to an attenuated <Emphasis Type="Italic">Listeria</Emphasis> vaccine does not reduce immunogenicity: pre-clinical assessment of the efficacy of a <Emphasis Type="Italic">Listeria</Emphasis>vaccine in the induction of immune responses against HIV

Background  

We have evaluated an attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) candidate vaccine vector in nonhuman primates using a delivery regimen relying solely on oral vaccination. We sought to determine the impact of prior Lm vector exposure on the development of new immune responses against HIV antigens.     

Exact Results for Topological Strings on Resolved <Emphasis Type="Italic">Y</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic"> p</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis></Superscript> Singularities

We obtain exact results in α′ for open and closed A-model topological string amplitudes on a large class of toric Calabi-Yau threefolds by using their correspondence with five dimensional gauge theories. The toric Calabi-Yaus that we analyze are obtained as minimal resolution of cones over Y ^p,q manifolds and give rise via M-theory compactification to SU(p) gauge theories on . As an application we present a detailed study of the local case and compute open and closed genus zero Gromov-Witten invariants of the orbifold. We also display the modular structure of the topological wave function and give predictions for higher genus amplitudes. The mirror curve in this case is the spectral curve of the relativistic A ₁ Toda chain. Our results also indicate the existence of a wider class of relativistic integrable systems associated to generic Y ^p,q geometries.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis>3</Subscript> decays and CKM unitarity

We present a detailed numerical study of the K_e3 decays to in chiral perturbation theory with virtual photons and leptons. We describe the extraction of the CKM matrix element |V_us| from the experimental K_e3 decay parameters. We propose a consistency check of the K ⁺ _e3 and K⁰_e3 data that is largely insensitive to the dominating theoretical uncertainties, in particular the contributions of . Our analysis is highly relevant in view of the recent high statistics measurement of the K ⁺ _e3 branching ratio by E865 at Brookhaven which does not indicate any significant deviation from CKM unitarity but rather a discrepancy with the present K⁰_e3 data.Received: 22 January 2004, Published online: 30 April 2004Work supported in part by IHP-RTN, Contract No. HPRN-CT2002-00311 (EURIDICE) and by Acciones Integradas, Project No. 19/2003 (Austria), HU2002-0044 (MCYT, Spain)     

Expression profile of the entire family of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Adhesion</Emphasis>G protein-coupled receptors in mouse and rat

Background  

The Adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are membrane-bound receptors with long N termini. This family has 33 members in humans. Several Adhesion GPCRs are known to have important physiological functions in CNS development and immune system response mediated by large cell surface ligands. However, the majority of Adhesion GPCRs are still poorly studied orphans with unknown functions.     

Spontaneous activity of rat pretectal nuclear complex neurons <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis>

Background  

Neurons in the mammalian pretectum are involved in the control of various visual and oculomotor tasks. Because functionally independent pretectal cell populations show a wide variation of response types to visual stimulation in vivo, they may also differ in their intrinsic properties when recorded in vitro. We therefore performed whole-cell patch clamp recordings from neurons in the caudal third of the pretectal nuclear complex in frontal brain slices obtained from 3 to 6 week old hooded rats and tried to classify pretectal neurons electrophysiologically.     

Non-vacuum Bianchi types <Emphasis Type="Italic">I</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">V</Emphasis> in <Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>) gravity

In a recent paper (Sharif and Shamir in Class. Quantum Grav. 26:235020, 2009), we have studied the vacuum solutions of Bianchi types I and V spacetimes in the framework of metric f (R) gravity. Here we extend this work to perfect fluid solutions. For this purpose, we take stiff matter to find energy density and pressure of the universe. In particular, we find two exact solutions in each case which correspond to two models of the universe. The first solution gives a singular model while the second solution provides a non-singular model. The physical behavior of these models has been discussed using some physical quantities. Also, the function of the Ricci scalar is evaluated.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>) Cosmology from <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-theory

From a macroscopic theory of the quantum vacuum in terms of conserved relativistic charges (generically denoted by q ^(a) with label a), we have obtained, in the low-energy limit, a particular type of f(R) model relevant to cosmology. The macroscopic quantum-vacuum theory allows us to distinguish between different phenomenological f(R) models on physical grounds. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Contribution of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis>1 process to the astrophysical <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-factor of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Superscript>2</Superscript>H radiative capture

The experimental data on the astrophysical S-factor of the p ²H radiative capture are well described for energies from 1 keV to 10 MeV using the potential cluster model and the Young schemes of orbital cluster state classification with allowance for the E1 and M1 transitions.     

Finite-Time Blow-up of Solutions of an Aggregation Equation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Superscript>

We consider the aggregation equation in R ⁿ , n ≥ 2, where K is a rotationally symmetric, nonnegative decaying kernel with a Lipschitz point at the origin, e.g. K(x) = e ^−|x|. We prove finite-time blow-up of solutions from specific smooth initial data, for which the problem is known to have short time existence of smooth solutions.