Vesicoureteral Reflux and Other Urinary Tract Malformations in Mice Compound Heterozygous for Pax2 and Emx2

Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) are the most common cause of chronic kidney disease in children. This disease group includes a spectrum of urinary tract defects including vesicoureteral reflux, duplex kidneys and other developmental defects that can be found alone or in combination. To identify new regulators of CAKUT, we tested the genetic cooperativity between several key regulators of urogenital system development in mice. We found a high incidence of urinary tract anomalies in Pax2;Emx2 compound heterozygous mice that are not found in single heterozygous mice. Pax2+/−;Emx2+/− mice harbor duplex systems associated with urinary tract obstruction, bifid ureter and a high penetrance of vesicoureteral reflux. Remarkably, most compound heterozygous mice refluxed at low intravesical pressure. Early analysis of Pax2+/−;Emx2+/− embryos point to ureter budding defects as the primary cause of urinary tract anomalies. We additionally establish Pax2 as a direct regulator of Emx2 expression in the Wolffian duct. Together, these results identify a haploinsufficient genetic combination resulting in CAKUT-like phenotype, including a high sensitivity to vesicoureteral reflux. As both genes are located on human chromosome 10q, which is lost in a proportion of VUR patients, these findings may help understand VUR and CAKUT in humans

Electroweak parameters of the z0 resonance and the standard model

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INCLUSIVE PI(+/-), K+/- AND (P,(P)OVER-BAR) DIFFERENTIAL CROSS-SECTIONS AT THE Z-RESONANCE

Inclusive pi(+/-), K-+/- and (p, (p) over bar) differential cross-sections in hadronic decays of the Z have been measured as a function of z = p(hadron)/p(beam), the scaled momentum. The results are based on approximately 520 000 events measured by the ALEPH detector at LEP during 1992. Charged particles are identified bp their rate of ionization energy loss in the ALEPH Time Projection Chamber. The position, xi*, of the peak in the ln(1/z) distribution is determined, and the evolution of the peak position with centre-of-mass energy is compared with the prediction of QCD

Measurement of D(s)+ meson production in Z decays and of the anti-B(s)0 lifetime

D-s(+) mesons produced in Z(0) --> b (b) over bar events were separated from the Z(0) --> c (c) over bar component using a lifetime tag. Using a sample of 1.5 million hadronic Z decays collected with the ALEPH detector the (B) over bar(s)(0) and D-s(+) yields have been measured: [GRAPHICS] The (B) over bar(2)(0) lifetime was measured in a (B) over bar(s)(0) enriched sample reconstructing the decay length from the vertex of the D-s(+) with a hadron from the (B) over bar(0)(s) decay, The result obtained is: [GRAPHICS