16,254 research outputs found
Including food systems, biodiversity, nutrition and health in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework: a submission from the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.
Different forms of the bovine PrP gene have five or six copies of a short, G-C-rich element within the protein-coding exon
Current models of the virus-like agents of scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) have to take into account that structural changes in a host-encoded protein (PrP protein) exhibit an effect on the time course of these diseases and the survival time of any man or animal exposed to these pathogens. We report here the sequence of different forms of the bovine PrP gene which contain either five or six copies of a short, G-C-rich element which encodes the octapeptide Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Gln or its longer variants Pro-Gln/His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Gln. Out of 12 cattle, we found eight animals homozygous for genes with six copies of the Gly-rich peptide (6:6), while four were heterozygous (6:5). Two confirmed cases of BSE occurred in (6: 6) homozygous animals. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a transmissible disease (Fraser et al., 1988; Dawson et al., 1990; Barlow & Middleton, 1990) which produces neuropathological lesions in cattle similar to those seen in ovine scrapie (Wells et al., 1987) and the rare human dementias Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and Gerstmann-Str/iussler syndrome (GSS) (Beck & Daniel, 1987). A cellular membrane protein (PrP) has a key role in the transmission and development of these diseases. This protein accumulates in the brain and other tissues during the protracted time course of these diseases and, in a disease-specific, protease-resistant isoform (SAF-PrP), has been purified by subcellular fractionation of scrapie
Submillimeter Array multiline observations of the massive star-forming region IRAS 18089-1732
Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations of the high-mass star-forming region
IRAS 18089-1732 in the 1 mm and 850 m band with 1 GHz bandwidth reveal a
wealth of information. We present the observations of 34 lines from 16
different molecular species. Most molecular line maps show significant
contributions from the outflow, and only few molecules are confined to the
inner core. We present and discuss the molecular line observations and outline
the unique capabilities of the SMA for future imaging line surveys at high
spatial resolution.Comment: Accepted for ApJ Letters, SMA special volum
SMA outflow/disk studies in the massive star-forming region IRAS18089-1732
SMA observations of the massive star-forming region IRAS 18089-1732 in the
1mm and 850mu band reveal outflow and disk signatures in different molecular
lines. The SiO(5--4) data show a collimated outflow in the northern direction.
In contrast, the HCOOCH3(20--19) line, which traces high-density gas, is
confined to the very center of the region and shows a velocity gradient across
the core. The HCOOCH3 velocity gradient is not exactly perpendicular to the
outflow axis but between an assumed disk plane and the outflow axis. We
interpret these HCOOCH3 features as originating from a rotating disk that is
influenced by the outflow and infall. Based on the (sub-)mm continuum emission,
the mass of the central core is estimated to be around 38M_sun. The dynamical
mass derived from the HCOOCH3 data is 22Msun, of about the same order as the
core mass. Thus, the mass of the protostar/disk/envelope system is dominated by
its disk and envelope. The two frequency continuum data of the core indicate a
low dust opacity index beta ~ 1.2 in the outer part, decreasing to beta ~ 0.5
on shorter spatial scales.Comment: 7 pages of text, 1 table, 3 figures, accepted for ApJ Letter
Large Magnetic Fields and Motions of OH Masers in W75 N
We report on a second epoch of VLBA observations of the 1665 and 1667 MHz OH
masers in the massive star-forming region W75 N. We find evidence to confirm
the existence of very strong (~40 mG) magnetic fields near source VLA 2. The
masers near VLA 2 are dynamically distinct and include a very bright spot
apparently moving at 50 km/s relative to those around VLA 1. This fast-moving
spot may be an example of a rare class of OH masers seen in outflows in
star-forming regions. Due to the variability of these masers and the rapidity
of their motions, tracking these motions will require multiple observations
over a significantly shorter time baseline than obtained here. Proper motions
of the masers near VLA 1 are more suggestive of streaming along magnetized
shocks rather than Keplerian rotation in a disk. The motions of the easternmost
cluster of masers in W75 N (B) may be tracing slow expansion around an unseen
exciting source.Comment: 7 pages including 4 figures (2 color) & 3 tables, to appear in Ap
Are there any good digraph width measures?
Several different measures for digraph width have appeared in the last few
years. However, none of them shares all the "nice" properties of treewidth:
First, being \emph{algorithmically useful} i.e. admitting polynomial-time
algorithms for all \MS1-definable problems on digraphs of bounded width. And,
second, having nice \emph{structural properties} i.e. being monotone under
taking subdigraphs and some form of arc contractions. As for the former,
(undirected) \MS1 seems to be the least common denominator of all reasonably
expressive logical languages on digraphs that can speak about the edge/arc
relation on the vertex set.The latter property is a necessary condition for a
width measure to be characterizable by some version of the cops-and-robber game
characterizing the ordinary treewidth. Our main result is that \emph{any
reasonable} algorithmically useful and structurally nice digraph measure cannot
be substantially different from the treewidth of the underlying undirected
graph. Moreover, we introduce \emph{directed topological minors} and argue that
they are the weakest useful notion of minors for digraphs
The structure of a <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase reveals differences from the mammalian enzyme
Colloidal stabilization via nanoparticle haloing
We present a detailed numerical study of effective interactions between
micron-sized silica spheres, induced by highly charged zirconia nanoparticles.
It is demonstrated that the effective interactions are consistent with a
recently discovered mechanism for colloidal stabilization. In accordance with
the experimental observations, small nanoparticle concentrations induce an
effective repulsion that counteracts the intrinsic van der Waals attraction
between the colloids and thus stabilizes the suspension. At higher nanoparticle
concentrations an attractive potential is recovered, resulting in reentrant
gelation. Monte Carlo simulations of this highly size-asymmetric mixture are
made possible by means of a geometric cluster Monte Carlo algorithm. A
comparison is made to results obtained from the Ornstein-Zernike equations with
the hypernetted-chain closure
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