Drawing lines in the sand: even skipped et al. and parasegment boundaries.

The pair-rule segmentation gene even skipped (eve) is required to activate engrailed stripes and to organize odd-numbered parasegments (PSs). The protein product Eve has been shown to be an active repressor of transcription, and recent models for Eve function suggest that activation of engrailed is indirect, but these models have not been fully tested. Here we identify the forkhead domain transcription factor Sloppy-paired as the key intermediate in the initial activation of engrailed by Eve in odd-numbered parasegments. We also analyze the roles of the transcription factors Runt and Odd-skipped in this process. Detailed analysis of engrailed and pair-rule gene expression in various mutant combinations shows how eve activates engrailed by repressing these engrailed repressors, and further indicates that mutual repression among pair-rule genes plays an important role in establishing parasegment boundaries. We present a new model of pair-rule gene function that explains the response of these boundaries to the relative levels of Eve and Fushi Tarazu

Homogeneous comparison of planet candidates imaged directly until 2008

We present a compilation of the planet candidates currently known from direct imaging. We have gathered available data from the literature and derive the luminosity of all candidates in a homogeneous way using a bolometric correction, the distances and the K band magnitudes of the objects. In a final step we find the masses of the candidates from a comparison of the luminosity or, if not available, an absolute brightness and several well known hot-start evolutionary models.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of the 2nd Subaru International Conference on Exoplanets and Disks: Their Formation and Diversity, Keauhou - Hawaii - USA, 9-12 March 2009; 2nd version: Several typos correcte

The Drosophila eve Insulator Homie Promotes eve Expression and Protects the Adjacent Gene from Repression by Polycomb Spreading.

Insulators can block the action of enhancers on promoters and the spreading of repressive chromatin, as well as facilitating specific enhancer-promoter interactions. However, recent studies have called into question whether the activities ascribed to insulators in model transgene assays actually reflect their functions in the genome. The Drosophila even skipped (eve) gene is a Polycomb (Pc) domain with a Pc-group response element (PRE) at one end, flanked by an insulator, an arrangement also seen in other genes. Here, we show that this insulator has three major functions. It blocks the spreading of the eve Pc domain, preventing repression of the adjacent gene, TER94. It prevents activation of TER94 by eve regulatory DNA. It also facilitates normal eve expression. When Homie is deleted in the context of a large transgene that mimics both eve and TER94 regulation, TER94 is repressed. This repression depends on the eve PRE. Ubiquitous TER94 expression is replaced by expression in an eve pattern when Homie is deleted, and this effect is reversed when the PRE is also removed. Repression of TER94 is attributable to spreading of the eve Pc domain into the TER94 locus, accompanied by an increase in histone H3 trimethylation at lysine 27. Other PREs can functionally replace the eve PRE, and other insulators can block PRE-dependent repression in this context. The full activity of the eve promoter is also dependent on Homie, and other insulators can promote normal eve enhancer-promoter communication. Our data suggest that this is not due to preventing promoter competition, but is likely the result of the insulator organizing a chromosomal conformation favorable to normal enhancer-promoter interactions. Thus, insulator activities in a native context include enhancer blocking and enhancer-promoter facilitation, as well as preventing the spread of repressive chromatin

Picosecond timing of Microwave Cherenkov Impulses from High-Energy Particle Showers Using Dielectric-loaded Waveguides

We report on the first measurements of coherent microwave impulses from high-energy particle-induced electromagnetic showers generated via the Askaryan effect in a dielectric-loaded waveguide. Bunches of 12.16 GeV electrons with total bunch energy of $\sim 10^3-10^4$ GeV were pre-showered in tungsten, and then measured with WR-51 rectangular (12.6 mm by 6.3 mm) waveguide elements loaded with solid alumina ($Al_2 O_3$) bars. In the 5-8 GHz $TE_{10}$ single-mode band determined by the presence of the dielectric in the waveguide, we observed band-limited microwave impulses with amplitude proportional to bunch energy. Signals in different waveguide elements measuring the same shower were used to estimate relative time differences with 2.3 picosecond precision. These measurements establish a basis for using arrays of alumina-loaded waveguide elements, with exceptional radiation hardness, as very high precision timing planes for high-energy physics detectors.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figure

Annihilation poles of a Smirnov-type integral formula for solutions to quantum Knizhnik--Zamolodchikov equation

We consider the recently obtained integral representation of quantum Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equation of level 0. We obtain the condition for the integral kernel such that these solutions satisfy three axioms for form factor \'{a} la Smirnov. We discuss the relation between this integral representation and the form factor of XXZ spin chain.Comment: 14 pages, latex, no figures

An Algebraic Model for the Multiple Meixner Polynomials of the First Kind

An interpretation of the multiple Meixner polynomials of the first kind is provided through an infinite Lie algebra realized in terms of the creation and annihilation operators of a set of independent oscillators. The model is used to derive properties of these orthogonal polynomials

Engineering of a conditional allele reveals multiple roles of XRN2 in Caenorhabditis elegans development and substrate specificity in microRNA turnover

Although XRN2 proteins are highly conserved eukaryotic 5′→3′ exonucleases, little is known about their function in animals. Here, we characterize Caenorhabditis elegans XRN2, which we find to be a broadly and constitutively expressed nuclear protein. An xrn-2 null mutation or loss of XRN2 catalytic activity causes a molting defect and early larval arrest. However, by generating a conditionally mutant xrn-2ts strain de novo through an approach that may be also applicable to other genes of interest, we reveal further functions in fertility, during embryogenesis and during additional larval stages. Consistent with the known role of XRN2 in controlling microRNA (miRNA) levels, we can demonstrate that loss of XRN2 activity stabilizes some rapidly decaying miRNAs. Surprisingly, however, other miRNAs continue to decay rapidly in xrn-2ts animals. Thus, XRN2 has unanticipated miRNA specificity in vivo, and its diverse developmental functions may relate to distinct substrates. Finally, our global analysis of miRNA stability during larval stage 1 reveals that miRNA passenger strands (miR*s) are substantially less stable than guide strands (miRs), supporting the notion that the former are mostly byproducts of biogenesis rather than a less abundant functional specie

Quantum Algebraic Approach to Refined Topological Vertex

We establish the equivalence between the refined topological vertex of Iqbal-Kozcaz-Vafa and a certain representation theory of the quantum algebra of type W_{1+infty} introduced by Miki. Our construction involves trivalent intertwining operators Phi and Phi^* associated with triples of the bosonic Fock modules. Resembling the topological vertex, a triple of vectors in Z^2 is attached to each intertwining operator, which satisfy the Calabi-Yau and smoothness conditions. It is shown that certain matrix elements of Phi and Phi^* give the refined topological vertex C_{lambda mu nu}(t,q) of Iqbal-Kozcaz-Vafa. With another choice of basis, we recover the refined topological vertex C_{lambda mu}^nu(q,t) of Awata-Kanno. The gluing factors appears correctly when we consider any compositions of Phi and Phi^*. The spectral parameters attached to Fock spaces play the role of the K"ahler parameters.Comment: 27 page

Fusion of the qq-Vertex Operators and its Application to Solvable Vertex Models

We diagonalize the transfer matrix of the inhomogeneous vertex models of the 6-vertex type in the anti-ferroelectric regime intoducing new types of q-vertex operators. The special cases of those models were used to diagonalize the s-d exchange model\cite{W,A,FW1}. New vertex operators are constructed from the level one vertex operators by the fusion procedure and have the description by bosons. In order to clarify the particle structure we estabish new isomorphisms of crystals. The results are very simple and figure out representation theoretically the ground state degenerations.Comment: 35 page