Epilepsy and intellectual disability linked protein Shrm4 interaction with GABA B Rs shapes inhibitory neurotransmission

Shrm4, a protein expressed only in polarized tissues, is encoded by the KIAA1202 gene, whose mutations have been linked to epilepsy and intellectual disability. However, a physiological role for Shrm4 in the brain is yet to be established. Here, we report that Shrm4 is localized to synapses where it regulates dendritic spine morphology and interacts with the C terminus of GABA B receptors (GABA B Rs) to control their cell surface expression and intracellular trafficking via a dynein-dependent mechanism. Knockdown of Shrm4 in rat severely impairs GABA B R activity causing increased anxiety-like behaviour and susceptibility to seizures. Moreover, Shrm4 influences hippocampal excitability by modulating tonic inhibition in dentate gyrus granule cells, in a process involving crosstalk between GABA B Rs and extrasynaptic \uce-subunit-containing GABA A Rs. Our data highlights a role for Shrm4 in synaptogenesis and in maintaining GABA B R-mediated inhibition, perturbation of which may be responsible for the involvement of Shrm4 in cognitive disorders and epilepsy

Toward Large-Area Sub-Arcsecond X-Ray Telescopes II

In order to advance significantly scientific objectives, future x-ray astronomy missions will likely call for x-ray telescopes with large aperture areas (approx. = 3 sq m) and fine angular resolution (approx. = 1"). Achieving such performance is programmatically and technologically challenging due to the mass and envelope constraints of space-borne telescopes and to the need for densely nested grazing-incidence optics. Such an x-ray telescope will require precision fabrication, alignment, mounting, and assembly of large areas (approx. = 600 sq m) of lightweight (approx. = 2 kg/sq m areal density) high-quality mirrors, at an acceptable cost (approx. = 1 M$/sq m of mirror surface area). This paper reviews relevant programmatic and technological issues, as well as possible approaches for addressing these issues-including direct fabrication of monocrystalline silicon mirrors, active (in-space adjustable) figure correction of replicated mirrors, static post-fabrication correction using ion implantation, differential erosion or deposition, and coating-stress manipulation of thin substrates

Iodine-125 brachytherapy for brain tumours - a review

Iodine-125 brachytherapy has been applied to brain tumours since 1979. Even though the physical and biological characteristics make these implants particularly attractive for minimal invasive treatment, the place for stereotactic brachytherapy is still poorly defined

Toward Large-Area Sub-Arcsecond X-Ray Telescopes

The future of x-ray astronomy depends upon development of x-ray telescopes with larger aperture areas (>1 sq m) and finer angular resolution(100 sq m) of lightweight (1 kg/sq m areal density) high quality mirrors-possibly entailing active (in-space adjustable) alignment and figure correction. This paper discusses relevant programmatic and technological issues and summarizes progress toward large area sub-arcsecond x-ray telescopes. Key words: X-ray telescopes, x-ray optics, active optics, electroactive devices, silicon mirrors, differential deposition, ion implantation

Large Raman intensity and vibrational second order hyperpolarizability of adamantly capped polyynes

poster presentato al convegno GNSR 2007 (Catania

Development of Baseline Monthly Utility Models for Fort Hood, Texas

The Fort Hood Army base in central Texas has more than 5,200 buildings and can be considered as typical of large Department of Defense Army bases in the continental United States. The annual utility bill of the base exceeds $25 million. Baseline monthly models for electricity use, electricity demand, gas use, and water use for the three cantonment areas of Fort Hood have been developed. Such models can be used as screening tools for detecting changes in future utility bills and also to track/evaluate the extent to which Presidential Executive Order 12902, mandating 30% decrease in energy utility bills from 1985 to 2005, is being met. In this analysis, 1990 has been selected as the baseline year to illustrate the predictive capability of the models. Since ascertaining the uncertainty of our predictions is very important for meaningful evaluations, we have also presented the relevant equations for computing the 95% prediction intervals of the regression models and illustrated their use with measured data over the period of 1989-1993. This study also evaluated two different types of energy modeling software- the Princeton Scorekeeping method (PRISM) and EModel- in order to ascertain which is more appropriate for baseline modeling of large Army installations such as Fort Hood. It was found that the EModel software, which has more flexibility to handle different types of linear single variate change point models, gave more accurate modeling results