PUMA amplifies necroptosis signaling by activating cytosolic DNA sensors.

Necroptosis, a form of regulated necrotic cell death, is governed by RIP1/RIP3-mediated activation of MLKL. However, the signaling process leading to necroptotic death remains to be elucidated. In this study, we found that PUMA, a proapoptotic BH3-only Bcl-2 family member, is transcriptionally activated in an RIP3/MLKL-dependent manner following induction of necroptosis. The induction of PUMA, which is mediated by autocrine TNF-α and enhanced NF-κB activity, contributes to necroptotic death in RIP3-expressing cells with caspases inhibited. On induction, PUMA promotes the cytosolic release of mitochondrial DNA and activation of the DNA sensors DAI/Zbp1 and STING, leading to enhanced RIP3 and MLKL phosphorylation in a positive feedback loop. Furthermore, deletion of PUMA partially rescues necroptosis-mediated developmental defects in FADD-deficient embryos. Collectively, our results reveal a signal amplification mechanism mediated by PUMA and cytosolic DNA sensors that is involved in TNF-driven necroptotic death in vitro and in vivo

Permanent Superhumps in V1974 Cyg

We present results of 32 nights of CCD photometry of V1974 Cygni, from the years 1994 and 1995. We verify the presence of two distinct periodicities in the light curve: 0.0812585 day~1.95 hours and 0.0849767 d~2.04 hr. We establish that the shorter periodicity is the orbital period of the underlying binary system. The longer period oscillates with an average value of |dot(P)| ~ 3x10^(7)--typical to permanent superhumps. The two periods obey the linear relation between the orbital and superhump periods that holds among members of the SU Ursae Majoris class of dwarf novae. A third periodicity of 0.083204 d~2.00 hr appeared in 1994 but not in 1995. It may be related to the recently discovered anti-superhump phenomenon. These results suggest a linkage between the classical nova V1974 Cyg and the SU UMa stars, and indicate the existence of an accretion disk and permanent superhumps in the system no later than 30 months after the nova outburst. From the precessing disk model of the superhump phenomenon we estimate that the mass ratio in the binary system is between 2.2 and 3.6. Combined with previous results this implies a white dwarf mass of 0.75-1.07 M sun.Comment: 11 pages, 10 eps. figures, Latex, accepted for publication in MNRA

Single Proton Knock-Out Reactions from 24,25,26F

The cross sections of the single proton knock-out reactions from 24F, 25F, and 26F on a 12C target were measured at energies of about 50 MeV/nucleon. Ground state populations of 6.6+-.9 mb, 3.8+-0.6 mb for the reactions 12C(24F,23O) and 12C(25F,24O) were extracted, respectively. The data were compared to calculations based on the many-body shell model and the eikonal theory. In the reaction 12C(26F,25O) the particle instability of 25O was confirmed

Semiconductor resonator solitons above band gap

We show experimentally the existence of bright and dark spatial solitons in semiconductor resonators for excitation above the band gap energy. These solitons can be switched on, both spontaneously and with address pulses, without the thermal delay found for solitons below the band gap which is unfavorable for applications. The differences between soliton properties above and below gap energy are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Engineering liver

Interest in “engineering liver” arises from multiple communities: therapeutic replacement; mechanistic models of human processes; and drug safety and efficacy studies. An explosion of micro- and nanofabrication, biomaterials, microfluidic, and other technologies potentially affords unprecedented opportunity to create microphysiological models of the human liver, but engineering design principles for how to deploy these tools effectively toward specific applications, including how to define the essential constraints of any given application (available sources of cells, acceptable cost, and user-friendliness), are still emerging. Arguably less appreciated is the parallel growth in computational systems biology approaches toward these same problems—particularly in parsing complex disease processes from clinical material, building models of response networks, and in how to interpret the growing compendium of data on drug efficacy and toxicology in patient populations. Here, we provide insight into how the complementary paths of engineering liver—experimental and computational—are beginning to interplay toward greater illumination of human disease states and technologies for drug development.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (UH2TR000496)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01-EB 010246)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01-ES015241)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (P30-ES002109

Dry shear aligning: a simple and versatile method to smooth and align the surfaces of carbon nanotube thin films

Open Access Article. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.We show that the application of lateral shear force on a randomly oriented thin film of carbon nanotubes, in the dry state, causes significant reordering of the nanotubes at the film surface. This new technique of dry shear aligning is applicable to carbon nanotube thin films produced by many of the established methods

Results of the Australian geodetic VLBI experiment

The 250-2500 km baseline vectors between radio telescopes located at Tidbinbilla (DSS43) near Canberra, Parkes, Fleurs (X3) near Sydney, Hobart and Alice Springs were determined from radio interferometric observations of extragalactic sources. The observations were made during two 24-hour sessions on 26 April and 3 May 1982, and one 12-hour night-time session on 28 April 1982. The 275 km Tidbinbilla - Parkes baseline was measured with an accuracy of plus or minus 6 cm. The remaining baselines were measured with accuracies ranging from 15 cm to 6 m. The higher accuracies were achieved for the better instrumented sites of Tidbinbilla, Parkes and Fleurs. The data reduction technique and results of the experiment are discussed

Photometry of VS0329+1250: A New, Short-Period SU Ursae Majoris Star

Time-resolved CCD photometry is presented of the recently-discovered (V~15 at maximum light) eruptive variable star in Taurus, which we dub VS0329+1250. A total of ~20 hr of data obtained over six nights reveals superhumps in the light curves, confirming the star as a member of the SU UMa class of dwarf novae. The superhumps recur with a mean period of 0.053394(7) days (76.89 min), which represents the shortest superhump period known in a classical SU UMa star. A quadratic fit to the timings of superhump maxima reveals that the superhump period was increasing at a rate given by dP/dt ~ (2.1 +/- 0.8) x 10^{-5} over the course of our observations. An empirical relation between orbital period and the absolute visual magnitude of dwarf novae at maximum light, suggests that VS0329+1250 lies at a distance of ~1.2 +/- 0.2 kpc.Comment: V2 - The paper has been modified to incorporate the referee's comments, and has now been accepted for publication in the PASP. The most significant change is that we are now able to confirm that the superhump period was increasing during the course of our observation

Evidence for a change in the nuclear mass surface with the discovery of the most neutron-rich nuclei with 17<Z <25

The results of measurements of the production of neutron-rich nuclei by the fragmentation of a 76-Ge beam are presented. The cross sections were measured for a large range of nuclei including fifteen new isotopes that are the most neutron-rich nuclides of the elements chlorine to manganese (50-Cl, 53-Ar, 55,56-K, 57,58-Ca, 59,60,61-Sc, 62,63-Ti, 65,66-V, 68-Cr, 70-Mn). The enhanced cross sections of several new nuclei relative to a simple thermal evaporation framework, previously shown to describe similar production cross sections, indicates that nuclei in the region around 62-Ti might be more stable than predicted by current mass models and could be an indication of a new island of inversion similar to that centered on 31-Na.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letters, 200