Exploring the functional domain and the target of the tetanus toxin light chain in neurohypophysial terminals

The tetanus toxin light chain blocks calcium induced vasopressin release from neurohypophysial nerve terminals. Here we show that histidine residue 233 within the putative zinc binding motif of the tetanus toxin light chain is essential for the inhibition of exocytosis, in the rat. The zinc chelating agent dipicolinic acid as well as captopril, an inhibitor of zinc-dependent peptidases, counteract the effect of the neurotoxin. Synthetic peptides, the sequences of which correspond to motifs present in the cytoplasmic domain of the synaptic vesicle membrane protein synaptobrevin 1 and 2, prevent the effect of the tetanus toxin light chain. Our results indicate that zinc bound to the zinc binding motif constitutes the active site of the tetanus toxin light chain. Moreover they suggest that cleavage of synaptobrevin by the neurotoxin causes the inhibition of exocytotic release of vasopressin from secretory granules

Improving Co-benefits and 'Triple Win' Impacts from Climate Action: The Role of Guidance Tools

This CDI Practice Paper by L.O. Naess, M. Hagemann, B. Harvey, F. Urban, S. Hendel-Blackford and N. Höhne addresses the role of tools in supporting interventions to achieve the ‘triple wins’ of adaptation, mitigation and development. Over recent years there has been a proliferation of guidance tools to support adaptation or mitigation, increasingly in a development context, but little work on the role tools play in helping to bridge the gap between these three areas in practice. Based on a review of tools in view of ‘climate compatible development’, the paper suggests key considerations for how tools could help achieve ‘triple wins’. They include (1) the importance of understanding how tools are a way of defining and shaping a goal, not merely helping to implement actions to achieve it; (2) the value of acknowledging different starting points, and that a lot of the integration is happening – and will continue to happen – on the side of users; and (3) because tools cannot provide all the answers to complex problems they need to be complemented by analysis of actors, goals and outcomes.UK Department for International Developmen

System-size dependence

The final state in The final state in heavy-ion collisions has a higher degree of strangeness saturation than the one produced in collisions between elementary particles like p-p or p-$\bar{p}$. A systematic analysis of this phenomenon is made for C-C, Si-Si and Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN SPS collider and for $Au-Au$ collisions at RHIC and at AGS energies. Strangeness saturation is shown to increase smoothly with the number of participants at AGS, CERN and RHIC energies.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, presented at SQM2003 conferenc

Strange Particle Production at RHIC

We report STAR measurements of mid-rapidity yields for the $\Lambda$, $\bar{\Lambda}$, $K^{0}_{S}$, $\Xi^{-}$, $\bar{\Xi}^{+}$, $\Omega^{-}$, and $\bar{\Omega}^{+}$ particles in Cu+Cu and Au+Au $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV collisions. We show that at a given number of participating nucleons, bulk strangeness production is higher in Cu+Cu collisions compared to Au+Au collisions at the same center of mass energy, counter to predictions from the Canonical formalism. We compare both the Cu+Cu and Au+Au yields to AMPT and EPOS predictions, and find they reproduce key qualitative aspects of the data. Finally, we investigate other scaling parameters and find bulk strangeness production for both the measured data and theoretical predictions, scales better with the number participants that undergo more than one collision.Comment: Conference proceedings for Hot Quarks 2008, 5 pages and 4 figure

Isobaric and Isochoric Heat Capacities of Imidazolium-Based and Pyrrolidinium-Based Ionic Liquids as Function of Temperature: Modeling of Isobaric Heat Capacity

International audienceThe isobaric and isochoric heat capacities of seven 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides, two 1-alkyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides, and two bis(1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium) tetrathiocyanatocobaltates were determined at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range from 293.15 to 323.15 K. The isobaric heat capacities were determined by means of differential scanning calorimetry, whereas isochoric heat capacities were determined along with isothermal compressibilities indirectly by means of the acoustic method from the speed of sound and density measurements. Based on the experimental data, as expected, the isobaric heat capacity increases linearly with increasing alkyl chain length in the cation of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides and no odd and even carbon number effect is observed. After critical comparison of the obtained data with the available literature data, the most reliable values are recommended. It has been also shown that, although the COSMOthermX calculations underestimated the isobaric heat capacity values whatever the temperature and the ionic liquid structure, the approach used during this work may be applied to estimate physical properties of non-single-charged ions as well. Additionally, based on the speeds of sound the thermal conductivities were calculated using a modified Bridgman relation

Is it possible to predict optimal rocker shoe design using barefoot gait parameters?

Curved rocker shoes are routinely prescribed for people with diabetes in order reduce in-shoe plantar pressures. However, previous research has shown that different individuals may require different rocker outsole geometries in order to optimise pressure reduction [1, 2]. This has led some researchers to suggest that every individual should try a range of possible outsole designs to identify the design which maximises pressure reduction [1]. However, this process may not be feasible in a clinical setting. Given that plantar pressure has been shown to depend on specific gait variables [3], it may be possible to develop an algorithm which could predict an individual’s pressure response to a specific rocker outsole design using an input of gait data. Such an algorithm would remove the need to try on a large number of pairs of rocker shoes

Evaluating the effect of apex position and rocker in curved rocker shoes

Curved rocker shoes are designed with a contoured outsole which can be characteristics by three principle design features: rocker angle, apex angle and apex position. Although these shoes are routinely prescribed to reduce in-shoe pressure in patients with diabetes, there is only minimal scientific evidence to inform the choice of value for each of the three design features. Results from a previous study [1], suggested that a 95° apex angle may be the best compromise for offloading the different regions of the forefoot. The results of this study also suggested that higher rocker angle may lead to decrease pressure, however, this study did not quantify the precise effect of rocker angle and apex position in shoes with a 95° apex angle