Progressive ganglion cell loss and optic nerve degeneration in DBA/2J mice is variable and asymmetric

Background  

Glaucoma is a chronic neurodegenerative disease of the retina, characterized by the degeneration of axons in the optic nerve and retinal ganglion cell apoptosis. DBA/2J inbred mice develop chronic hereditary glaucoma and are an important model system to study the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease and novel therapeutic interventions designed to attenuate the loss of retinal ganglion cells. Although the genetics of this disease in these mice are well characterized, the etiology of its progression, particularly with respect to retinal degeneration, is not. We have used two separate labeling techniques, post-mortem DiI labeling of axons and ganglion cell-specific expression of the βGeo reporter gene, to evaluate the time course of optic nerve degeneration and ganglion cell loss, respectively, in aging mice.     

Science at the Hard X-ray Diffraction Limit (XDL2011), Part 1

There is growing excitement in the synchrotron materials science community about the potential of nearly diffraction-limited, high-repetition rate, hard X-ray sources, such as an Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) or an Ultimate Storage Ring (USR), and that these sources will pave the way to scientific insights and discoveries not possible with existing facilities. These future sources will deliver highly coherent, nearly diffraction-limited X-ray beams that will power ultra-intense, nanometer-scale X-ray probes and imaging capabilities approaching atomic resolution. They will produce X-ray pulses at MHz to GHz repetition rates and span pulse durations from below 50 femtoseconds to tens of picoseconds, enabling new classes of experiments in hard X-ray science.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rgcs1</Emphasis>, a dominant QTL that affects retinal ganglion cell death after optic nerve crush in mice

Background  

Intrinsic apoptosis of neuronal somas is one aspect of neurodegenerative diseases that can be influenced by genetic background. Genes that affect this process may act as susceptibility alleles that contribute to the complex genetic nature of these diseases. Retinal ganglion cell death is a defining feature of the chronic and genetically complex neurodegenerative disease glaucoma. Previous studies using an optic nerve crush procedure in inbred mice, showed that ganglion cell resistance to crush was affected by the Mendelian-dominant inheritance of 1–2 predicted loci. To assess this further, we bred and phenotyped a large population of F2 mice derived from a resistant inbred strain (DBA/2J) and a susceptible strain (BALB/cByJ).     

Coexistence of phases in Ising ferromagnets

We derive a new inequality for ferromagnetic Ising spin systems and then use it to obtain information about the number of phases which can coexist in such systems. We show in particular that for even interactions only two phases (up and down magnetization) can coexist below the critical temperature at zero magnetic field (h=0) whenever the energy is a continuous function of the temperature. We also prove that the derivatives with respect toh ath=0 of the odd correlation functions (triplet,...) diverge like the susceptibility in the vicinity of the critical temperature (at least for pair interactions). Our results also apply to higher order Ising spins (not just spin 1/2).Research supported in part by NSF Grant #MPS 75-20638 and USAFOR Grant #73-2430D.John Simon Guggenheim Fellow.     

When does every definable nonempty set have a definable element?

The assertion that every definable set has a definable element is equivalent over $\mathsf{ZF}$ to the principle $\mathbf{V}=\mathbf{HOD}$, and indeed, we prove, so is the assertion merely that every Π₂‐definable set has an ordinal‐definable element. Meanwhile, every model of $\mathsf{ZFC}$ has a forcing extension satisfying $\mathbf{V}\ne \mathbf{HOD}$ in which every Σ₂‐definable set has an ordinal‐definable element. Similar results hold for $\mathbf{HOD}(\mathbb{R})$ and $\mathbf{HOD}({\mathrm{Ord}}^{\omega })$ and other natural instances of $\mathbf{HOD}(X)$.     

Regioselective A-Ring Chlorination of Benzodiazepine Analogues Using tert-Butyl Hypochlorite

Treatment of 2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodiazepin-5(4H)-one and a series of 1,4-benzoxazepinone analogues with tert-butyl hypochlorite affords products shown, by NMR and MS spectroscopy, to be chlorinated exclusively in the A-ring at positions 7 and/or 9.     

Sterically congested macrobicycles with heteroatomic bridgehead functionality

A series of cyclophanes composed of two triarylelement caps linked by two-atom bridges has been synthesized. The bridgehead functional groups include phosphines in combination with amines, hydrosilanes, methylsilanes, and ethoxysilanes. Computational studies accurately predicted that when the bridgehead substituents are small (lone pairs or protons), an in_,in bridgehead stereochemistry is strongly favored, but larger bridgehead substituents favor the formations of in_,out stereoisomers. The X-ray structures, spectra, and reactivity of these compounds are discussed, as well as the resolution of one of the cyclophanes into pure enantiomers.