532 research outputs found
Factors involved in the cell density-dependent regulation of nuclear/cytoplasmic distribution of the 11.5-kDa Zn<sup>2+</sup>-binding protein (parathymosin-Îą) in rat hepatocytes.
High-Throughput Omics Technologies: Potential Tools for the Investigation of Influences of EMF on Biological Systems
The mode of action of a huge amount of agents on biological systems is still unknown. One example where more questions than answers exist is covered by the term electromagnetic fields (EMF). Use of wireless communication, e.g. mobile phones, has been escalated in the last few years. Due to this fact, a lot of discussions dealt with health consequences of EMF emitted by these devices and led to an increased investigation of their effects to biological systems, mainly by using traditional methods. Omics technologies have the advantage to contain methods for investigations on DNA-, RNA- and protein level as well as changes in the metabolism
On the Stereochemistry of the Cations in the Doping Block of Superconducting Copper-Oxides
Metal-oxygen complexes containing Cu,- Tl-, Hg-, Bi- and Pb-cations are
electronically active in superconducting copper-oxides by stabilizing single
phases with enhanced , whereas other metal-oxygen complexes deteriorate
copper-oxide superconductivity. Cu, Tl, Hg, Bi, Pb in their actual oxidation
states are closed shell or inert pair ions. Their electronic
configurations have a strong tendency to polarize the oxygen environment. The
closed shell ions with low lying
excitations form linear complexes through hybridization polarizing
the apical oxygens. Comparatively low excitation energies
distinguish from other closed shell
ions deteriorating copper-oxide superconductivity, {\it e.g.} .Comment: 5 pages, uses REVTEX. To be published in: J. Superconductivity, Proc.
Int. Workshop on "Phase Separation, Electronic Inhomogenities and Related
Mechanisms for High T_c Superconductors", Erice (Sicily) 9-15 July 199
Two-parameter neutrino mass matrices with two texture zeros
We reanalyse Majorana-neutrino mass matrices M_nu with two texture zeros, by
searching for viable hybrid textures in which the non-zero matrix elements of
M_nu have simple ratios. Referring to the classification scheme of Frampton,
Glashow and Marfatia, we find that the mass matrix denoted by A1 allows the
ratios (M_nu)_{mu mu} : (Mnu)_{tau tau} = 1:1 and (M_nu)_{e tau} : (Mnu)_{mu
tau} = 1:2. There are analogous ratios for texture A2. With these two hybrid
textures, one obtains, for instance, good agreement with the data if one
computes the three mixing angles in terms of the experimentally determined
mass-squared differences Delta m^2_21 and Delta m^2_31. We could not find
viable hybrid textures based on mass matrices different from those of cases A1
and A2.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, minor changes, some references adde
PND49 Understanding the Suitability of Cystic Fibrosis-Specific Clinical Outcome Assessments For Clinical Trials and to Support Medical Product Labeling
Gamma and Beta Oscillations in Human MEG Encode the Contents of Vibrotactile Working Memory
Ample evidence suggests that oscillations in the beta band represent
quantitative information about somatosensory features during stimulus
retention. Visual and auditory working memory (WM) research, on the other
hand, has indicated a predominant role of gamma oscillations for active WM
processing. Here we reconciled these findings by recording whole-head
magnetoencephalography during a vibrotactile frequency comparison task. A
Braille stimulator presented healthy subjects with a vibration to the left
fingertip that was retained in WM for comparison with a second stimulus
presented after a short delay. During this retention interval spectral power
in the beta band from the right intraparietal sulcus and inferior frontal
gyrus (IFG) monotonically increased with the to-be-remembered vibrotactile
frequency. In contrast, induced gamma power showed the inverse of this pattern
and decreased with higher stimulus frequency in the right IFG. Together, these
results expand the previously established role of beta oscillations for
somatosensory WM to the gamma band and give further evidence that quantitative
information may be processed in a fronto-parietal network
Identification of {HNRNPK} as Regulator of Hepatitis {C} Virus Particle Production
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease affecting around 130 million people worldwide. While great progress has been made to define the principle steps of the viral life cycle, detailed knowledge how HCV interacts with its host cells is still limited. To overcome this limitation we conducted a comprehensive whole-virus RNA interference-based screen and identified 40 host dependency and 16 host restriction factors involved in HCV entry/replication or assembly/release. Of these factors, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (HNRNPK) was found to suppress HCV particle production without affecting viral RNA replication. This suppression of virus production was specific to HCV, independent from assembly competence and genotype, and not found with the related Dengue virus. By using a knock-down rescue approach we identified the domains within HNRNPK required for suppression of HCV particle production. Importantly, HNRNPK was found to interact specifically with HCV RNA and this interaction was impaired by mutations that also reduced the ability to suppress HCV particle production. Finally, we found that in HCV-infected cells, subcellular distribution of HNRNPK was altered; the protein was recruited to sites in close proximity of lipid droplets and colocalized with core protein as well as HCV plus-strand RNA, which was not the case with HNRNPK variants unable to suppress HCV virion formation. These results suggest that HNRNPK might determine efficiency of HCV particle production by limiting the availability of viral RNA for incorporation into virions. This study adds a new function to HNRNPK that acts as central hub in the replication cycle of multiple other viruses
A comparative study on the felting propensity of animal fibers
The felting propensity of different animal fibers, particularly alpaca and wool, has been examined. The Aachen felting test method was employed. 1 g of each type of fiber was soaked in 50 ml of wetting solution and agitated in a dyeing machine to make felt balls. The diameter of each ball was measured in nine directions and the ball density was calculated in g/cm3; the higher the density value of the ball, the higher the feltability of the fibers. The effects of fiber diameter and fiber length on the felting propensity of these fibers were investigated. The results show that the alpaca fibers felt to a higher degree than wool fibers, and short and fine cashmere fibers have lower felting propensity than wool fibers at a similar diameter range. There is a higher tendency of felting for bleached and dyed alpaca fibers than for untreated fibers. Fiber length has a remarkable influence on the propensity of fiber felting. Cotton and nylon fibers were also tested for felting propensity to verify the mechanism responsible for the different fiber felting behavior. <br /
DASMIweb: online integration, analysis and assessment of distributed protein interaction data
In recent years, we have witnessed a substantial increase of the amount of available protein interaction data. However, most data are currently not readily accessible to the biologist at a single site, but scattered over multiple online repositories. Therefore, we have developed the DASMIweb server that affords the integration, analysis and qualitative assessment of distributed sources of interaction data in a dynamic fashion. Since DASMIweb allows for querying many different resources of protein and domain interactions simultaneously, it serves as an important starting point for interactome studies and assists the user in finding publicly accessible interaction data with minimal effort. The pool of queried resources is fully configurable and supports the inclusion of own interaction data or confidence scores. In particular, DASMIweb integrates confidence measures like functional similarity scores to assess individual interactions. The retrieved results can be exported in different file formats like MITAB or SIF. DASMIweb is freely available at http://www.dasmiweb.de
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