368 research outputs found
Protein kinase a distribution in meningioma
Deregulation of intracellular signal transduction pathways is a hallmark of cancer cells, clearly differentiating them from healthy cells. Differential intracellular distribution of the cAMP-dependent protein kinases (PKA) was previously detected in cell cultures and in vivo in glioblastoma and medulloblastoma. Our goal is to extend this observation to meningioma, to explore possible differences among tumors of different origins and prospective outcomes. The distribution of regulatory and catalytic subunits of PKA has been examined in tissue specimens obtained during surgery from meningioma patients. PKA RI subunit appeared more evenly distributed throughout the cytoplasm, but it was clearly detectable only in some tumors. RII was present in discrete spots, presumably at high local concentration; these aggregates could also be visualized under equilibrium binding conditions with fluorescent 8-substituted cAMP analogues, at variance with normal brain tissue and other brain tumors. The PKA catalytic subunit showed exactly overlapping pattern to RII and in fixed sections could be visualized by fluorescent cAMP analogues. Gene expression analysis showed that the PKA catalytic subunit revealed a significant correlation pattern with genes involved in meningioma. Hence, meningioma patients show a distinctive distribution pattern of PKA regulatory and catalytic subunits, different from glioblastoma, medulloblastoma, and healthy brain tissue. These observations raise the possibility of exploiting the PKA intracellular pathway as a diagnostic tool and possible therapeutic interventions
Asymptotic behavior of the Kleinberg model
We study Kleinberg navigation (the search of a target in a d-dimensional
lattice, where each site is connected to one other random site at distance r,
with probability proportional to r^{-a}) by means of an exact master equation
for the process. We show that the asymptotic scaling behavior for the delivery
time T to a target at distance L scales as (ln L)^2 when a=d, and otherwise as
L^x, with x=(d-a)/(d+1-a) for ad+1. These
values of x exceed the rigorous lower-bounds established by Kleinberg. We also
address the situation where there is a finite probability for the message to
get lost along its way and find short delivery times (conditioned upon arrival)
for a wide range of a's
Sophorolipids: A review on production and perspectives of application in agriculture
Sophorolipids are bioactive molecules that have gained a lot of attention in the recent decades due to their unique functional properties of reducing surface and interfacial tension, emulsification and solubilization. They are mainly produced by the yeast Candida bombicola and are composed of a sugar moiety linked to a fatty acid chain. Sophorolipids are non-toxic, highly efficient and stable at extreme conditions and possess environmentally friendly characteristics over the chemical surfactants. This review is focused on the main characteristics of sophorolipids, fermentation processes, and their utilization in the agricultural field. In this context, sophorolipids are very suitable for use in agriculture, as enhancers of solubility and mobility of plant nutrients, which could result in increased plant biomass, root size and fruit yield. In addition, they could be used for biodegradation of oils, bioremediation of heavy metals in contaminated soils, and as potential biopesticides, to control phytopathogenic microorganisms in agriculture. The extensive use of chemical pesticides has led to widespread insecticide resistance and to hazards to human health and the environment due to their high toxicity. Thus, the introduction of a new biomolecule to control plant diseases and increase crop yield has become an interesting alternative. As a result of the demonstrated antimicrobial activity towards phytopathogenic bacteria and fungi, sophorolipids could be extensively explored in the agriculture field, as a sustainable and natural multifunctional agent for plant crops and soils
The Aquarius Superclusters - I. Identification of Clusters and Superclusters
We study the distribution of galaxies and galaxy clusters in a 10^deg x 6^deg
field in the Aquarius region. In addition to 63 clusters in the literature, we
have found 39 new candidate clusters using a matched-filter technique and a
counts-in-cells analysis. From redshift measurements of galaxies in the
direction of these cluster candidates, we present new mean redshifts for 31
previously unobserved clusters, while improved mean redshifts are presented for
35 other systems. About 45% of the projected density enhancements are due to
the superposition of clusters and/or groups of galaxies along the line of
sight, but we could confirm for 72% of the cases that the candidates are real
physical associations similar to the ones classified as rich galaxy clusters.
On the other hand, the contamination due to galaxies not belonging to any
concentration or located only in small groups along the line of sight is ~ 10%.
Using a percolation radius of 10 h^{-1} Mpc (spatial density contrast of about
10), we detect two superclusters of galaxies in Aquarius, at z = 0.086 and at z
= 0.112, respectively with 5 and 14 clusters. The latter supercluster may
represent a space overdensity of about 160 times the average cluster density as
measured from the Abell et al. (1989) cluster catalog, and is possibly
connected to a 40 h^{-1} Mpc filament from z ~ 0.11 to 0.14.Comment: LateX text (21 pages) and 12 (ps/eps/gif) figures; figures 5a, 5b and
6 are not included in the main LateX text; to be published in the
Astronomical Journal, March issu
Nanoscale transient magnetization gratings excited and probed by femtosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses
We utilize coherent femtosecond extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pulses derived from
a free electron laser (FEL) to generate transient periodic magnetization
patterns with periods as short as 44 nm. Combining spatially periodic
excitation with resonant probing at the dichroic M-edge of cobalt allows us to
create and probe transient gratings of electronic and magnetic excitations in a
CoGd alloy. In a demagnetized sample, we observe an electronic excitation with
50 fs rise time close to the FEL pulse duration and ~0.5 ps decay time within
the range for the electron-phonon relaxation in metals. When the experiment is
performed on a sample magnetized to saturation in an external field, we observe
a magnetization grating, which appears on a sub-picosecond time scale as the
sample is demagnetized at the maxima of the EUV intensity and then decays on
the time scale of tens of picoseconds via thermal diffusion. The described
approach opens prospects for studying dynamics of ultrafast magnetic phenomena
on nanometer length scales
A novel free-electron laser single-pulse Wollaston polarimeter for magneto-dynamical studies
Here, we report on the conceptual design, the hardware realization, and the first experimental results of a novel and compact x-ray polarimeter capable of a single-pulse linear polarization angle detection in the extreme ultraviolet photon energy range. The polarimeter is tested by performing time resolved pump-probe experiments on a Ni80Fe20 Permalloy film at the M-2,M-3 Ni edge at an externally seeded free-electron laser source. Comparison with similar experiments reported in the literature shows the advantages of our approach also in view of future experiments
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