The role of dimensionality in neuronal network dynamics

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement FP7 ICT 2011 – 284553 (Acronym: Si-CODE), the NEUROSCAFFOLDS Project n. 604263, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number: 51361130033) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (973 Grant number: 2014CB965003)

Diversity of Protein and mRNA Forms of Mammalian Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase B1 Due to Intronization and Protein Processing

Background: Methionine sulfoxide reductases (Msrs) are repair enzymes that protect proteins from oxidative stress by catalyzing stereospecific reduction of oxidized methionine residues. MsrB1 is a selenocysteine-containing cytosolic/nuclear Msr with high expression in liver and kidney. Principal Findings: Here, we identified differences in MsrB1 gene structure among mammals. Human MsrB1 gene consists of four, whereas the corresponding mouse gene of five exons, due to occurrence of an additional intron that flanks the stop signal and covers a large part of the 3′-UTR. This intron evolved in a subset of rodents through intronization of exonic sequences, whereas the human gene structure represents the ancestral form. In mice, both splice forms were detected in liver, kidney, brain and heart with the five-exon form being the major form. We found that both mRNA forms were translated and supported efficient selenocysteine insertion into MsrB1. In addition, MsrB1 occurs in two protein forms that migrate as 14 and 5 kDa proteins. We found that each mRNA splice form generated both protein forms. The abundance of the 5 kDa form was not influenced by protease inhibitors, replacement of selenocysteine in the active site or mutation of amino acids in the cleavage site. However, mutation of cysteines that coordinate a structural zinc decreased the levels of 5 and 14 kDa forms, suggesting importance of protein structure for biosynthesis and/stability of these forms. Conclusions: This study characterized unexpected diversity of protein and mRNA forms of mammalian selenoprotein MsrB1

Unexpected changes in the oxic/anoxic interface in the Black Sea

THE Black Sea is the largest anoxic marine basin in the world today1. Below the layer of oxygenated surface water, hydrogen sulphide builds up to concentrations as high as 425 μM in the deep water down to a maximum depth of 2,200 m (ref. 2). The hydrographic regime is characterized by low-salinity surface water of river origin overlying high-salinity deep water of Mediterranean origin1,3. A steep pycnocline, centred at about 50 m is the primary physical barrier to mixing and is the origin of the stability of the anoxic (oxygen/hydrogen sulphide) interface. Here we report new observations, however, that indicate dramatic changes in the oceanographic characteristics of the anoxic interface of the Black Sea over decadal or shorter timescales. The anoxic, sulphide-containing interface has moved up in the water column since the last US cruises in 1969 and 1975. In addition, a suboxic zone overlays the sulphide-containing deep water. The expected overlap of oxygen and sulphide was not present. We believe that these observations result from horizontal mixing or flushing events that inject denser, saltier water into the relevant part of the water column. It is possible that man-made reduction in freshwater inflow into the Black Sea could cause these changes, although natural variability cannot be discounted. © 1989 Nature Publishing Group

Understanding Novel Superconductors with Ab Initio Calculations

This chapter gives an overview of the progress in the field of computational superconductivity. Following the MgB2 discovery (2001), there has been an impressive acceleration in the development of methods based on Density Functional Theory to compute the critical temperature and other physical properties of actual superconductors from first-principles. State-of-the-art ab-initio methods have reached predictive accuracy for conventional (phonon-mediated) superconductors, and substantial progress is being made also for unconventional superconductors. The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of the existing computational methods for superconductivity, and present selected examples of material discoveries that exemplify the main advancements.Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures, Contribution to Springer Handbook of Materials Modellin

The disruption of proteostasis in neurodegenerative diseases

Cells count on surveillance systems to monitor and protect the cellular proteome which, besides being highly heterogeneous, is constantly being challenged by intrinsic and environmental factors. In this context, the proteostasis network (PN) is essential to achieve a stable and functional proteome. Disruption of the PN is associated with aging and can lead to and/or potentiate the occurrence of many neurodegenerative diseases (ND). This not only emphasizes the importance of the PN in health span and aging but also how its modulation can be a potential target for intervention and treatment of human diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Search for the lepton flavour violating decay τ − → μ − μ + μ −

A search for the lepton flavour violating decay $\tau^-\to \mu^-\mu^+\mu^-$ is performed with the LHCb experiment. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $1.0\mathrm{\,fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $7\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$ and $2.0\mathrm{\,fb}^{-1}$ at $8\mathrm{\,Te\kern -0.1em V}$. No evidence is found for a signal, and a limit is set at $90\%$ confidence level on the branching fraction, $\mathcal{B}(\tau^-\to \mu^-\mu^+\mu^-) < 4.6 \times 10^{-8}$.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, published as JHEP 02 (2015) 12