ZBED4, a cone and Müller cell protein in human retina, has a different cellular expression in mouse.

PurposeZBED4, a protein in cones and Müller cells of human retina, may play important functions as a transcriptional activator of genes expressed in those cells or as a co-activator/repressor of their nuclear hormone receptors. To begin investigating these potential roles of ZBED4, we studied the developmental expression and localization of both the Zbed4 mRNA and protein of mouse retina.Methodsnorthern blots showed the presence of Zbed4 mRNA in retina and other mouse tissues, and western blots showed the nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of Zbed4 at different developmental times. Antibodies against Zbed4 and specific retinal cell markers were used for retinal immunohistochemistry.ResultsZbed4 mRNA was present at different levels in all the mouse tissues analyzed. The Zbed4 protein was barely detectable at embryonic day (E)14.5 but was clearly seen at E16 at both retinal outer and vitreal borders and throughout the retina by E18 and postnatal day 0 (P0). Thereafter, Zbed4 expression was more restricted to the inner retina. While ZBED4 is localized in cones and endfeet of Müller cells of human retina, in adult mouse retina Zbed4 is only detected in Müller cell endfeet and processes. The same localization of Zbed4 was observed in rat retina. In early development, Zbed4 is mainly present in the nuclear fraction of the mouse retina, and in adulthood it becomes more enriched in the cytoplasmic fraction.ConclusionsThe patterns of spatial and temporal expression of Zbed4 in the mouse retina suggest a possible involvement of this protein in retinal morphogenesis and Müller cell function

Constructing infinitely many smooth structures on small 4-manifolds

The purpose of this article is twofold. First we outline a general construction scheme for producing simply-connected minimal symplectic 4-manifolds with small Euler characteristics. Using this scheme, we illustrate how to obtain irreducible symplectic 4-manifolds homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to \CP#(2k+1)\CPb for $k = 1,...,4$, or to 3\CP# (2l+3)\CPb for $l =1,...,6$. Secondly, for each of these homeomorphism types, we show how to produce an infinite family of pairwise nondiffeomorphic nonsymplectic 4-manifolds belonging to it. In particular, we prove that there are infinitely many exotic irreducible nonsymplectic smooth structures on \CP#3\CPb, 3\CP#5\CPb and 3\CP#7\CPb.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figure

On the evolution of an entangled lepton-neutrino pair

The evolution of the entangled muon-neutrino system emerging from charged pion decay is explored both in vacuum and in matter. The study is based on a Weisskopf-Wigner type wave-packet description. Explicit formulae are derived displaying modulation and attenuation of the oscillations due to additional time scales characterising the production process. The case of neutrinos disentangled due to the detection of the muon is also considered

Hybrid Properties of Cucumber Elegant F1

The article describes the features of technologies for growing cucumber on temporary protected grounds. The elements of the cultivation technology of different methods of sowing 5 varieties specimens of cucumber have been studied. The cucumber hybrid Elegant F1 is intended for cultivation on open and protected soils. Plant height reaches up to 2.5 - 3.5 meters, belongs to the indeterminate type. The distance between the nodes is 9-10 cm. 1-2 fruits are formed in the axil of the leaf. It has 100% parthenocarpic properties and retains this property until the end of the growing season.The shape of the fruit is cylindrical, the surface is glossy, there is practically no bitter taste. The average fruit weight is 120 - 130 grams. The first crop ripens 30-35 days after germination. With the correct and timely application of the necessary agrotechnical measures in protected areas, 23-25 kg/m2 of the crop can be harvested in natural soil and 30-35 kg/m2 in hydroponics. One of the distinguishing features of this hybrid is the density of the fruit pulp, and thus the juiciness of the fruit. This feature allows the fruits to gain more weight, be stored for a long time and transported over long distances without losing the quality of the fruit. The average weight of one fruit reaches up to 130 grams. This hybrid shows tolerance to diseases such as downy mildew, powdery mildew and cucumber mosaic

Neutrino Spin Flavor Precession and Leptogenesis

We argue that \Delta L=2 neutrino spin flavor precession, induced by the primordial magnetic fields, could have a significant impact on the leptogenesis process that accounts for the baryon asymmetry of the universe. Although the extra galactic magnetic fields is extremely weak at present time (about 10^{-9} Gauss), the primordial magnetic filed at the electroweak scale could be quite strong (of order 10^{17} Gauss). Therefore, at this scale, the effects of the spin flavor precession are not negligible. We show that the lepton asymmetry may be reduced by 50% due to the spin flavor precession. In addition, the leptogenesis will have different feature from the standard scenario of leptogenesis, where the lepton asymmetry continues to oscillate even after the electroweak phase transition.Comment: 5 pages, one figure. References adde

Parametric resonance for antineutrino conversions using LSND best-fit results with a 3+1 flavor scheme

An analytical solution to a parametric resonance effect for antineutrinos in a 3+1 flavor (active+sterile) scheme using multiple non-adiabatic density shifts is presented. We derive the conditions for a full flavor conversion for antineutrino oscillations $\bar{\nu}_\alpha \to \bar{\nu}_s$ $(\alpha=e,\mu,\tau)$ under the assumption that LSND best-fits for the mixing parameters are valid in a short-baseline accelerator experiment. We show that the parametric resonance effect can be exploited to increase the effective antineutrino oscillation length by a factor of 10-40, thus sustaining a high oscillation probability for a much longer period of time than in the vacuum scenario. We propose a realistic experimental setup that could probe for this effect which leaves a signature in terms of a specific oscillation probability profile. Moreover, since the parametric resonance effect is valid in any 2 or 1+1 flavor approximation, our results could be suggestive for future short-baseline accelerator neutrino detection experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

An infrared origin of leptonic mixing and its test at DeepCore

Fermion mixing is generally believed to be a low-energy manifestation of an underlying theory whose energy scale is much larger than the electroweak scale. In this paper we investigate the possibility that the parameters describing lepton mixing actually arise from the low-energy behavior of the neutrino interacting fields. In particular, we conjecture that the measured value of the mixing angles for a given process depends on the number of unobservable flavor states at the energy of the process. We provide a covariant implementation of such conjecture, draw its consequences in a two neutrino family approximation and compare these findings with current experimental data. Finally we show that this infrared origin of mixing will be manifest at the Ice Cube DeepCore array, which measures atmospheric oscillations at energies much larger than the tau lepton mass; it will hence be experimentally tested in a short time scale.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure; version to appear in Int.J.Mod.Phys.