1,763 research outputs found
CBS domains form energy-sensing modules whose binding of adenosine ligands is disrupted by disease mutations
CBS domains are defined as sequence motifs that occur in several different proteins in all kingdoms of life. Although thought to be regulatory, their exact functions have been unknown. However, their importance was underlined by findings that mutations in conserved residues within them cause a variety of human hereditary diseases, including (with the gene mutated in parentheses): Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (γ2 subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase); retinitis pigmentosa (IMP dehydrogenase-1); congenital myotonia, idiopathic generalized epilepsy, hypercalciuric nephrolithiasis, and classic Bartter syndrome (CLC chloride channel family members); and homocystinuria (cystathionine β-synthase). AMP-activated protein kinase is a sensor of cellular energy status that is activated by AMP and inhibited by ATP, but the location of the regulatory nucleotide-binding sites (which are prime targets for drugs to treat obesity and diabetes) was not characterized. We now show that tandem pairs of CBS domains from AMP-activated protein kinase, IMP dehydrogenase-2, the chloride channel CLC2, and cystathionine β-synthase bind AMP, ATP, or S-adenosyl methionine,while mutations that cause hereditary diseases impair this binding. This shows that tandem pairs of CBS domains act, in most cases, as sensors of cellular energy status and, as such, represent a newly identified class of binding domain for adenosine derivatives
A quasi classical approach to fully differential ionization cross sections
A classical approximation to time dependent quantum mechanical scattering in
the M\o{}ller formalism is presented. Numerically, our approach is similar to a
standard Classical-Trajectory-Monte-Carlo calculation. Conceptually, however,
our formulation allows one to release the restriction to stationary initial
distributions. This is achieved by a classical forward-backward propagation
technique. As a first application and for comparison with experiment we present
fully differential cross sections for electron impact ionization of atomic
hydrogen in the Erhardt geometry.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
A semi-classical over-barrier model for charge exchange between highly charged ions and one-optical electron atoms
Absolute total cross sections for electron capture between slow, highly
charged ions and alkali targets have been recently measured. It is found that
these cross sections follow a scaling law with the projectile charge which is
different from the one previously proposed basing on a classical over-barrier
model (OBM) and verified using rare gases and molecules as targets. In this
paper we develop a "semi-classical" (i.e. including some quantal features) OBM
attempting to recover experimental results. The method is then applied to
ion-hydrogen collisions and compared with the result of a sophisticated
quantum-mechanical calculation. In the former case the accordance is very good,
while in the latter one no so satisfactory results are found. A qualitative
explanation for the discrepancies is attempted.Comment: RevTeX, uses epsf; 6 pages text + 3 EPS figures Journal of Physics B
(scehduled March 2000). This revision corrects fig.
Books
Progress in Medical Virology. Vol. 39. Ed. by J. L. Melnick. Pp. x + 270. Illustrated. £115,70. Basel: S Karger. 1992.Assisted reproduction Micromanipulation of Human Gametes and Embryos. By J. Cohen, H. E. Malter, Beth E. Talansky and J. Grifo. pp. ix + 325. Illustrated. 69. New York: Raven Press. 1992.Anaesthetists Five Decades: The South African Society· of Anaesthetists 1943 - 1993. By Nagin Parbhoo. 330 pages and 70 phoros and illustrations. Published by the South African Society of Anaesthetists. Printed by National Book Printers.
Rapamycin Regulates Bleomycin-Induced Lung Damage in SP-C-Deficient Mice
Injury to the distal respiratory epithelium has been implicated as an underlying cause of idiopathic lung diseases. Mutations that result in SP-C deficiencies are linked to a small subset of spontaneous and familial cases of interstitial lung disease (ILD) and interstitial pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Gene-targeted mice that lack SP-C (Sftpc−/−) develop an irregular ILD-like disease with age and are a model of the human SP-C related disease. In the current study, we investigated whether rapamycin could ameliorate bleomycin-induced fibrosis in the lungs of Sftpc−/− mice. Sftpc+/+ and −/− mice were exposed to bleomycin with either preventative administration of rapamycin or therapeutic administration beginning eight days after the bleomycin injury. Rapamycin-treatment increased weight loss and decreased survival of bleomycin-treated Sftpc+/+ and Sftpc−/− mice. Rapamycin did not reduce the fibrotic disease in the prophylactic or rescue experiments of either genotype of mice. Further, rapamycin treatment augmented airway resistance and reduced lung compliance of bleomycin-treated Sftpc−/− mice. Rapamycin treatment was associated with an increased expression of profibrotic Th2 cytokines and reduced expression of INF-γ. These findings indicate that novel therapeutics will be required to treat individuals with SP-C deficient ILD/IPF
Cross section and analyzing power of pol{p}p -> pn pi+ near threshold
The cross section and analyzing power of the pol{p}p -> pn pi+ reaction near
threshold are estimated in terms of data obtained from the pol{p}p -> d pi+ and
pp -> pp pi0 reactions. A simple final state interaction theory is developed
which depends weakly upon the form of the pion-production operator and includes
some Coulomb corrections. Within the uncertainties of the model and the input
data, the approach reproduces well the measured energy dependence of the total
cross section and the proton analyzing power at a fixed pion c.m. angle of
90deg, from threshold to T_p = 330 MeV. The variation of the differential cross
section with pion angle is also very encouraging.Comment: 20 pages, Latex including 4 eps figure
Quasiclassical double photoionization from the 2^{1,3}S excited states of helium including shakeoff
We account for the different symmetries of the 2^{1,3}S helium excited states
in a quasiclassical description of the knockout mechanism augmented by a
quantum shakeoff contribution. We are thus able to formulate the separate
contribution of the knockout and shakeoff mechanisms for double photoionization
for any excess energy from the 2^{1,3}S states. Photoionization ratios and
singly differential cross sections calculated for the 2^{1,3}S excited states
of helium are found to be in very good agreement with recent theoretical
results.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
Surprising variations in the rotation of the chemically peculiar stars CU Virginis and V901 Orionis
CU Vir and V901 Ori belong among these few magnetic chemically peculiar stars
whose rotation periods vary on timescales of decades. We aim to study the
stability of the periods in CU Vir and V901 Ori using all accessible
observational data containing phase information. We collected all available
relevant archived observations supplemented with our new measurements of these
stars and analysed the period variations of the stars using a novel method that
allows for the combination of data of diverse sorts. We found that the shapes
of their phase curves were constant, while the periods were changing. Both
stars exhibit alternating intervals of rotational braking and acceleration. The
rotation period of CU Vir was gradually shortening until the year 1968, when it
reached its local minimum of 0.52067198 d. The period then started increasing,
reaching its local maximum of 0.5207163 d in the year 2005. Since that time the
rotation has begun to accelerate again. We also found much smaller period
changes in CU Vir on a timescale of several years. The rotation period of V901
Ori was increasing for the past quarter-century, reaching a maximum of 1.538771
d in the year 2003, when the rotation period began to decrease. A theoretically
unexpected alternating variability of rotation periods in these stars would
remove the spin-down time paradox and brings a new insight into structure and
evolution of magnetic upper-main-sequence stars.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
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