Crumbs2 mediates ventricular layer remodelling to form the spinal cord central canal

In the spinal cord, the central canal forms through a poorly understood process termed dorsal collapse that involves attrition and remodelling of pseudostratified ventricular layer (VL) cells. Here, we use mouse and chick models to show that dorsal ventricular layer (dVL) cells adjacent to dorsal midline Nestin(+) radial glia (dmNes+RG) down-regulate apical polarity proteins, including Crumbs2 (CRB2) and delaminate in a stepwise manner; live imaging shows that as one cell delaminates, the next cell ratchets up, the dmNes+RG endfoot ratchets down, and the process repeats. We show that dmNes+RG secrete a factor that promotes loss of cell polarity and delamination. This activity is mimicked by a secreted variant of Crumbs2 (CRB2S) which is specifically expressed by dmNes+RG. In cultured MDCK cells, CRB2S associates with apical membranes and decreases cell cohesion. Analysis of Crb2F/F/Nestin-Cre+/− mice, and targeted reduction of Crb2/CRB2S in slice cultures reveal essential roles for transmembrane CRB2 (CRB2TM) and CRB2S on VL cells and dmNes+RG, respectively. We propose a model in which a CRB2S–CRB2TM interaction promotes the progressive attrition of the dVL without loss of overall VL integrity. This novel mechanism may operate more widely to promote orderly progenitor delamination

Effective Action for QED with Fermion Self-Interaction in D=2 and D=3 Dimensions

In this work we discuss the effect of the quartic fermion self-interaction of Thirring type in QED in D=2 and D=3 dimensions. This is done through the computation of the effective action up to quadratic terms in the photon field. We analyze the corresponding nonlocal photon propagators nonperturbatively in % \frac{k}{m}, where k is the photon momentum and m the fermion mass. The poles of the propagators were determined numerically by using the Mathematica software. In D=2 there is always a massless pole whereas for strong enough Thirring coupling a massive pole may appear . For D=3 there are three regions in parameters space. We may have one or two massive poles or even no pole at all. The inter-quark static potential is computed analytically in D=2. We notice that the Thirring interaction contributes with a screening term to the confining linear potential of massive QED_{2}. In D=3 the static potential must be calculated numerically. The screening nature of the massive QED$_{3}$ prevails at any distance, indicating that this is a universal feature of % D=3 electromagnetic interaction. Our results become exact for an infinite number of fermion flavors.Comment: Latex, 13 pages, 3 figure

Ciência ativa: a experimentação como recurso didático para o ensino de ciências

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Evidence of Color Coherence Effects in W+jets Events from ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV

We report the results of a study of color coherence effects in ppbar collisions based on data collected by the D0 detector during the 1994-1995 run of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, at a center of mass energy sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV. Initial-to-final state color interference effects are studied by examining particle distribution patterns in events with a W boson and at least one jet. The data are compared to Monte Carlo simulations with different color coherence implementations and to an analytic modified-leading-logarithm perturbative calculation based on the local parton-hadron duality hypothesis.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Physics Letters

Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe