The role of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of shell matrix proteins in shell formation : an in vivo and in vitro study

Protein phosphorylation is a fundamental mechanism regulating many aspects of cellular processes. Shell matrix proteins (SMPs) control crystal nucleation, polymorphism, morphology, and organization of calcium carbonate crystallites during shell formation. SMPs phosphorylation is suggested to be important in shell formation but the mechanism is largely unknown. Here, to investigate the mechanism of phosphorylation of SMPs in biomineralization, we performed in vivo and in vitro experiment. By injection of antibody against the anti-phosphoserine/threonine /tyrosine into the extrapallial fluid of the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata, phosphorylation of matrix proteins were significantly reduced after 6 days. Newly formed prismatic layers and nacre tablet were found to grow abnormally with reduced crystallinity and possibly changed crystal orientation shown by Raman spectroscopy. In addition, regeneration of shells is also inhibited in vivo. Then, protein phosphatase was used to dephosphorylate SMPs extracted from the shells. After dephosphorylation, the ability of SMPs to inhibiting calcium carbonate formation have been reduced. Surprisingly, the ability of SMPs to modulate crystal morphology have been largely compromised although phosphorylation extent remained to be at least half of the control. Furthermore, dephosphorylation of SMPs changed the distribution of protein occlusions and decreased the amount of protein occlusions inside crystals shown by confocal imaging, indicating interaction between phosphorylated SMPs and crystals. Taken together, this study provides insight into the mechanism of phosphorylation of SMPs during shell formation

On the Approximability and Hardness of the Minimum Connected Dominating Set with Routing Cost Constraint

In the problem of minimum connected dominating set with routing cost constraint, we are given a graph $G=(V,E)$, and the goal is to find the smallest connected dominating set $D$ of $G$ such that, for any two non-adjacent vertices $u$ and $v$ in $G$, the number of internal nodes on the shortest path between $u$ and $v$ in the subgraph of $G$ induced by $D \cup \{u,v\}$ is at most $\alpha$ times that in $G$. For general graphs, the only known previous approximability result is an $O(\log n)$-approximation algorithm ($n=|V|$) for $\alpha = 1$ by Ding et al. For any constant $\alpha > 1$, we give an $O(n^{1-\frac{1}{\alpha}}(\log n)^{\frac{1}{\alpha}})$-approximation algorithm. When $\alpha \geq 5$, we give an $O(\sqrt{n}\log n)$-approximation algorithm. Finally, we prove that, when $\alpha =2$, unless $NP \subseteq DTIME(n^{poly\log n})$, for any constant $\epsilon > 0$, the problem admits no polynomial-time $2^{\log^{1-\epsilon}n}$-approximation algorithm, improving upon the $\Omega(\log n)$ bound by Du et al. (albeit under a stronger hardness assumption)

Lessons of the Wage Dynamics Network

The Wage Dynamics Network (WDN) is a temporary research network with the main objective of identifying the characteristics of wage dynamics and drawing conclusions from them in monetary policy terms. The paper presents the main findings of this research work. Notably, the intersectoral wage differential can be partly attributed to differences in profitability and the degree of competition to which the sectors are exposed. Nominal wages are adjusted less frequently than prices and adjustments generally tend to be made at regular intervals rather than in response to the economic climate. Wage rigidity not only affects existing workers, but also new recruits. The euro area, and Belgium in particular, is marked more by rigid real wages than nominal wages. Real wage rigidity implies a low optimal inflation rate and tends to complicate the conduct of monetary policy since it triggers greater fluctuations in output and employment and makes inflation more persistent. Furthermore, in a monetary union, countries with higher real wage rigidity suffer a loss of competitiveness in the event of negative productivity shocks. Institutions underlying wagesetting generally play an important role in the way in which firms and economies react to shocks. The heterogeneity of these institutions within the euro area therefore presents a real challenge for monetary policy.firms’ behavior, wage rigidity, employment, monetary policy, labour market flexibility, labour market institutions, economic shocks

Semiclassical Green Function in Mixed Spaces

A explicit formula on semiclassical Green functions in mixed position and momentum spaces is given, which is based on Maslov's multi-dimensional semiclassical theory. The general formula includes both coordinate and momentum representations of Green functions as two special cases of the form.Comment: 8 pages, typeset by Scientific Wor

Power Corrections in Charmless B Decays

In this paper, we focus on the role of power corrections in QCD factorization(QCDF) method in charmless two-body nonleptonic $B$ meson decays. We use the ratio of the branching fraction of $B^+ \to \pi^+ K^{\ast 0}$ to that of $B^0 \to \pi^- \rho^+$, for which the theoretical uncertainties are greatly reduced, to show clearly that the power corrections in charmless B decays are probably large. With other similar ratios considered, for example, for the $B^0 \to K^- \rho^+$ decay, it is very likely that, among various sources of power corrections, annihilation topology plays an indispensable role at least for penguin dominated $\rm PV$ channels. We also consider some selective ratios of direct CP asymmetries. Among these, we find that, if power corrections other than the chirally enhanced power corrections and annihilation topology were negligible, QCDF would predict the direct CP asymmetry of $B \to \pi^+ \pi^-$ to be about 3 times larger than that of $B \to \pi^\pm K^\mp$, with opposite sign. Experimentally any significant deviation from this prediction would suggest either new physics or possibly the importance of long-distance rescattering effects.Comment: references and note added, to appear in Phys. Rev.

The hydrostatic equilibrium and Tsallis equilibrium for self-gravitating systems

Self-gravitating systems are generally thought to behavior non-extensively due to the long-range nature of gravitational forces. We obtain a relation between the nonextensive parameter q of Tsallis statistics, the temperature gradient and the gravitational potential based on the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium of self-gravitating systems. It is suggested that the nonextensive parameter in Tsallis statistics has a clear physical meaning with regard to the non-isothermal nature of the systems with long-range interactions and Tsallis equilibrium distribution for the self-gravitating systems describes the property of hydrostatic equilibrium of the systems.Comment: 7 pages, 9 Reference