Cell biology:Collagen secretion explained

Cells package proteins into vesicles for secretion to the extracellular milieu. A study shows that an enzyme modifies the packaging machinery to encapsulate unusually large proteins such as collagen

The distribution of distinct integrins in focal contacts is determined by the substratum composition

The distribution of two integrins, the fibronectin receptor and the vitronectin receptor, has been explored in an endothelium-derived cell line plated onto various substrata. On a fibronectin substratum, in the presence of serum, these cells develop focal contacts that contain the fibronectin receptor, whereas the vitronectin receptor is diffusely distributed over the cell surface. Conversely, cells plated onto vitronectin-coated coverslips concentrate only the vitronectin receptor within focal contacts. The accumulation of the vitronectin receptor within focal contacts also occurs when the cells are plated on uncoated coverslips but in the presence of serum. Therefore, we conclude that under normal culture conditions (i.e. in serum-containing media), the vitronectin receptor is the predominant form of integrin involved in substratum adhesion. This conclusion is supported by experiments in which cells were cultured on fibronectin-coated coverslips in the presence of serum. Initially these cells developed focal contacts containing only the fibronectin receptor. Within several hours, however, there was a progressive replacement of focal contacts containing the fibronectin receptor by focal contacts expressing the vitronectin receptor. After approximately 12 h in culture, most cells contained focal contacts expressing only the vitronectin receptor. Focal contacts containing either the fibronectin or vitronectin receptor were both associated with the termini of stress fibres and contained the proteins talin and vinculin. These observations lead us to propose that the cell does not discriminate between these different integrins when assembling the cytoskeletal components at the cytoplasmic face of focal contacts

Microwave imaging of mesoscopic percolating network in a manganite thin film

Many unusual behaviors in complex oxides are deeply associated with the spontaneous emergence of microscopic phase separation. Depending on the underlying mechanism, the competing phases can form ordered or random patterns at vastly different length scales. Using a microwave impedance microscope, we observed an orientation-ordered percolating network in strained Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 thin films with a large period of 100 nm. The filamentary metallic domains align preferentially along certain crystal axes of the substrate, suggesting the anisotropic elastic strain as the key interaction in this system. The local impedance maps provide microscopic electrical information of the hysteretic behavior in strained thin film manganites, suggesting close connection between the glassy order and the colossal magnetoresistance effects at low temperatures.Comment: 4 pages,4 figure

A dynamic management framework for socio-ecological system stewardship: A case study for the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

An effective and efficient stewardship of natural resources requires consistency across all decision-informing approaches and components involved, i.e., managerial, governmental, political, and legal. To achieve this consistency, these elements must be aligned under an overarching management goal that is consistent with current and well-accepted knowledge. In this article, we investigate the adoption by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of an environmental resilience-centered system that manages for resilience of marine ecological resources and its associated social elements. Although the framework is generally tailored for this Bureau, it could also be adapted to other federal or non-federal organizations. This paper presents a dynamic framework that regards change as an inherent element of the socio-ecological system in which management structures, e.g., federal agencies, are embedded. The overall functioning of the management framework being considered seeks to mimic and anticipate environmental change in line with well-accepted elements of resilience-thinking. We also investigate the goal of using management for resilience as a platform to enhance socio-ecological sustainability by setting specific performance metrics embedded in pre-defined and desired social and/or ecological scenarios. Dynamic management frameworks that couple social and ecological systems as described in this paper can facilitate the efficient and effective utilization of resources, reduce uncertainty for decision and policy makers, and lead to more defensible decisions on resources

Pretransplant assessment of human liver grafts by plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity in multiple organ donors.

In spite of the improved outcome of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx), primary graft nonfunction remains one of the life-threatening problems following OLTx. The purpose of this study was to evaluate plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity in multiple organ donors as a predictor of liver allograft viability prior to OLTx. Thirty-nine donors were studied during a 5-month period between April and August 1988. Allograft hepatectomy was performed using a rapid technique or its minor modification with hilar dissections, and the allografts were stored cold (4 degrees C) in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution. Early post-transplant allograft function was classified as good, fair, or poor, according to the highest SGOT, SGPT, and prothrombin time within 5 days following OLTx. Procurement records were reviewed to identify donor data, which included conventional liver function tests, duration of hospital stay, history of cardiac arrest, and graft ischemic time. Blood samples from the donors were drawn immediately prior to aortic crossclamp, and from these plasma LCAT activity was determined. Plasma LCAT activity of all donors was significantly lower than that of healthy controls (12.4 +/- 8.0 vs 39.2 +/- 13.3 micrograms/ml per hour, P less than 0.01). LCAT activity (16.4 +/- 8.3 micrograms/ml per hour) in donors of grafts with good function was significantly higher than that in those with fair (8.6 +/- 4.5 micrograms/ml per hour, P less than 0.01) or poor (7.3 +/- 2.4 micrograms/ml per hour, P less than 0.01) function.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS

Universality class of S=1/2 quantum spin ladder system with the four spin exchange

We study s=1/2 Heisenberg spin ladder with the four spin exchange. Combining numerical results with the conformal field theory(CFT), we find a phase transition with central charge c=3/2. Since this system has an SU(2) symmetry, we can conclude that this critical theory is described by k=2 SU(2) Wess-Zumino-Witten model with Z$_2$ symmetry breaking

Rapid, Field-Deployable Method for Genotyping and Discovery of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms Associated with Drug Resistance in Plasmodium falciparum

Despite efforts to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality, drug-resistant parasites continue to evade control strategies. Recently, emphasis has shifted away from control and toward regional elimination and global eradication of malaria. Such a campaign requires tools to monitor genetic changes in the parasite that could compromise the effectiveness of antimalarial drugs and undermine eradication programs. These tools must be fast, sensitive, unambiguous, and cost-effective to offer real-time reports of parasite drug susceptibility status across the globe. We have developed and validated a set of genotyping assays using high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis to detect molecular biomarkers associated with drug resistance across six genes in Plasmodium falciparum. We improved on existing technical approaches by developing refinements and extensions of HRM, including the use of blocked probes (LunaProbes) and the mutant allele amplification bias (MAAB) technique. To validate the sensitivity and accuracy of our assays, we compared our findings to sequencing results in both culture-adapted lines and clinical isolates from Senegal. We demonstrate that our assays (i) identify both known and novel polymorphisms, (ii) detect multiple genotypes indicative of mixed infections, and (iii) distinguish between variants when multiple copies of a locus are present. These rapid and inexpensive assays can track drug resistance and detect emerging mutations in targeted genetic loci in P. falciparum. They pro- vide tools for monitoring molecular changes associated with changes in drug response across populations and for determining whether parasites present after drug treatment are the result of recrudescence or reinfection in clinical settings.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Robustness of Cooperation in the Evolutionary Prisoner's Dilemma on Complex Networks

Recent studies on the evolutionary dynamics of the Prisoner's Dilemma game in scale-free networks have demonstrated that the heterogeneity of the network interconnections enhances the evolutionary success of cooperation. In this paper we address the issue of how the characterization of the asymptotic states of the evolutionary dynamics depends on the initial concentration of cooperators. We find that the measure and the connectedness properties of the set of nodes where cooperation reaches fixation is largely independent of initial conditions, in contrast with the behavior of both the set of nodes where defection is fixed, and the fluctuating nodes. We also check for the robustness of these results when varying the degree heterogeneity along a one-parametric family of networks interpolating between the class of Erdos-Renyi graphs and the Barabasi-Albert networks.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, revised version accepted for publication in New Journal of Physics (2007

Magnetic-field-induced collapse of charge-ordered nanoclusters and the Colossal Magnetoresistance effect in Nd(0.3)Sr(0.3)MnO(3)

We report synchrotron x-ray scattering studies of charge/orbitally ordered (COO) nanoclusters in Nd$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_3$. We find that the COO nanoclusters are strongly suppressed in an applied magnetic field, and that their decreasing concentration follows the field-induced decrease of the sample electrical resistivity. The COO nanoclusters, however, do not completely disappear in the conducting state, suggesting that this state is inhomogeneous and contains an admixture of an insulating phase. Similar results were also obtained for the zero-field insulator-metal transition that occurs as temperature is reduced. These observations suggest that these correlated lattice distortions play a key role in the Colossal Magnetoresistance effect in this prototypical manganite.Comment: 5 pages, 3 embedded eps figures; to appear in PRB Rapid Commumication