p53 isoforms change p53 paradigm

Although p53 defines cellular responses to cancer treatment it is not clear how p53 can be used to control cell fate outcome. Data demonstrate that so-called p53 does not exist as a single protein, but is in fact a group of p53 protein isoforms whose expression can be manipulated to control the cellular response to treatment

Growth and metabolism in children with acute illness and malnutrition

Introduction: Malnutrition in childhood is related to mortality, mainly from infections, and has long-term health consequences. The impact of an acute illness on subsequent growth of malnourished children has been poorly described and there is limited understanding of the acute and long-term metabolic changes in these children. Aims: This thesis aimed to understand the growth recovery processes and metabolic disturbances linked to acute illness and malnutrition and whether these differ between children with severe wasting (SW) versus nutritional oedema (NO). Methods: Growth was measured in children hospitalised in low- and middle- income countries with classic anthropometry or with bio-impedance analysis (BIA) for body composition. Blood glucose was tracked with continuous glucose monitoring, and the recovery dynamics of hundreds of metabolites was investigated over short and longer-term convalescence to identify metabolic pathways with rapid or delayed recovery. Results: Most children had sub-optimal growth post-discharge but children with NO had a distinct weight-recovery pattern. While BIA did not add prognostic value, continuous glucose monitoring revealed that half the children experience severe glucose dysregulation, including severe hypoglycemia that can led to death. Metabolomics analysis showed that while amino acids normalise, large panels of specialised lipids show delayed recovery. Conclusion: Enhancing metabolism by optimizing therapeutic feeds or developing adjuvant therapy could improve glucose regulation and replenish lipids needed for cellular repair. Since metabolic distress is linked to mortality in malnourished children, developing tailored interventions could broaden the treatment approaches and improve not only growth but also mortality in children with acute illnesses and malnutrition

Scotin, a novel p53-inducible proapoptotic protein located in the ER and the nuclear membrane

p53 is a transcription factor that induces growth arrest or apoptosis in response to cellular stress. To identify new p53-inducible proapoptotic genes, we compared, by differential display, the expression of genes in spleen or thymus of normal and p53 nullizygote mice after γ-irradiation of whole animals. We report the identification and characterization of human and mouse Scotin homologues, a novel gene directly transactivated by p53. The Scotin protein is localized to the ER and the nuclear membrane. Scotin can induce apoptosis in a caspase-dependent manner. Inhibition of endogenous Scotin expression increases resistance to p53-dependent apoptosis induced by DNA damage, suggesting that Scotin plays a role in p53-dependent apoptosis. The discovery of Scotin brings to light a role of the ER in p53-dependent apoptosis

ACCURACY AND PRECISION OF THE KINETIC ANALYSIS OF COUNTER MOVEMENT JUMP PERFORMANCE

The purpose of this study was to quantify the accuracy and precision of measuring counter movement jump (CMJ) performance kinetically (i.e. measuring impulse using a force plate). A 14-camera 3D motion analysis system and a force plate were used simultaneously to obtain vertical trajectories of centre of mass (CM) for comparison. Fifty-eight CMJs were analyzed from eleven physically active males. Jump height differences were trivial, and small bias was obtained thereby showing good accuracy as well as small typical errors for performance. Our study indicates that force plates can be used confidently for CMJ analysis

Conformal dimension and random groups

We give a lower and an upper bound for the conformal dimension of the boundaries of certain small cancellation groups. We apply these bounds to the few relator and density models for random groups. This gives generic bounds of the following form, where $l$ is the relator length, going to infinity. (a) 1 + 1/C < \Cdim(\bdry G) < C l / \log(l), for the few relator model, and (b) 1 + l / (C\log(l)) < \Cdim(\bdry G) < C l, for the density model, at densities $d < 1/16$. In particular, for the density model at densities $d < 1/16$, as the relator length $l$ goes to infinity, the random groups will pass through infinitely many different quasi-isometry classes.Comment: 32 pages, 4 figures. v2: Final version. Main result improved to density < 1/16. Many minor improvements. To appear in GAF

Wages and work practices in union and open shop construction

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1983.Caption title.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 270-274).by Clinton Currier Bourdon.Ph.D

Unital quantum operators on the Bloch ball and Bloch region

For one qubit systems, we present a short, elementary argument characterizing unital quantum operators in terms of their action on Bloch vectors. We then show how our approach generalizes to multi-qubit systems, obtaining inequalities that govern when a ``diagonal'' superoperator on the Bloch region is a quantum operator. These inequalities are the n-qubit analogue of the Algoet-Fujiwara conditions. Our work is facilitated by an analysis of operator-sum decompositions in which negative summands are allowed.Comment: Revised and corrected, to appear in Physical Review

Avian cerebellar floccular fossa size is not a proxy for flying ability in birds

Extinct animal behavior has often been inferred from qualitative assessments of relative brain region size in fossil endocranial casts. For instance, flight capability in pterosaurs and early birds has been inferred from the relative size of the cerebellar flocculus, which in life protrudes from the lateral surface of the cerebellum. A primary role of the flocculus is to integrate sensory information about head rotation and translation to stabilize visual gaze via the vestibulo-occular reflex (VOR). Because gaze stabilization is a critical aspect of flight, some authors have suggested that the flocculus is enlarged in flying species. Whether this can be further extended to a floccular expansion in highly maneuverable flying species or floccular reduction in flightless species is unknown. Here, we used micro computed-tomography to reconstruct “virtual” endocranial casts of 60 extant bird species, to extract the same level of anatomical information offered by fossils. Volumes of the floccular fossa and entire brain cavity were measured and these values correlated with four indices of flying behavior. Although a weak positive relationship was found between floccular fossa size and brachial index, no significant relationship was found between floccular fossa size and any other flight mode classification. These findings could be the result of the bony endocranium inaccurately reflecting the size of the neural flocculus, but might also reflect the importance of the flocculus for all modes of locomotion in birds. We therefore conclude that the relative size of the flocculus of endocranial casts is an unreliable predictor of locomotor behavior in extinct birds, and probably also pterosaurs and non-avian dinosaurs