Different Characteristics of the Bright Branches of the Globular Clusters M3 and M13

We carried out wide-field BVI CCD photometric observations of the GCs M3 and M13 using the BOAO 1.8 m telescope equipped with a 2K CCD. We present CMDs of M3 and M13. We have found AGB bumps at V = 14.85 for M3 at V = 14.25 for M13. It is found that AGB stars in M3 are more concentrated near the bump, while those in M13 are scattered along the AGB sequence. We identified the RGB bump of M3 at V = 15.50 and that of M13 at V = 14.80. We have estimated the ratios R and R2 for M3 and M13 and found that of R for M3 is larger than that for M13 while R2's for M3 and M13 are similar when only normal HB stars are used in R and R2 for M13. However, we found that R's for M3 and M13 are similar while R2 for M3 is larger than that for M13 when all the HB stars are included in R and R2 for M13. We have compared the observed RGB LFs of M3 and M13 with the theoretical RGB LF of Bergbusch & VandenBerg at the same radial distances from the cluster centers as used in R and R2 for M3 and M13. We found "extra stars" belonging to M13 in the comparison of the observed RGB LF of M13 and the theoretical RGB LF of Bergbusch & VandenBerg. In the original definition of R of Buzzoni et al., N(HB) corresponds to the lifetime of HB stars in the RR Lyrae instability strip at log T_eff = 3.85. So, the smaller R value resulting for M13 compared with that for M3 in the case where only normal HB stars are included in R and R2 for M13 may be partially caused by "extra stars", and the similar R's for M3 and M13 in the case where the all HB stars are included in R and R2 for M13 may be caused by "extra stars" in the upper RGB of M13. If "extra stars" in the upper RGB of M13 are caused by an effective "deep mixing" these facts support the contention that an effective "deep mixing" could lead to different HB morphologies between M3 and M13 and subsequent sequences.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, to be published in the A

Circumstellar Hibonite and Corundum and Nucleosynthesis in Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

We report the discovery of two hibonite grains (CaAl_(12)O_(19)) whose isotopic compositions show that they formed in the winds of red giant and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. While hibonite is the second major phase (after corundum, Al_2O_3) expected to condense from stellar ejecta with C/O < 1, it has not previously been found. One circumstellar hibonite grain is highly enriched in ^(17)O and slightly depleted in ^(18)O relative to the solar composition and has large excesses in ^(26)Mg and ^(41)K, decay products of ^(26)Al and ^(41)Ca. The inferred initial values (^(26)Al/^(27)Al)0 ≈ 5 × 10^(-3) and (^(41)Ca/^(40)Ca)0 ≈ 1.5 × 10^(-4) of this grain are consistent with models of nucleosynthesis in an AGB star. The other hibonite is enriched in ^(17)O, strongly depleted in ^(18)O, shows no evidence of ^(41)Ca and formed with (^(26)Al/^(27)Al)0 ≈ 2 × 10^(-2). The low ^(18)O/^(16)O and very high (^(26)Al/^(27)Al)_0 may indicate substantial proton exposure during cool bottom processing in a low-mass parent star. The low upper limit on ^(41)Ca/^(40)Ca (≤ 3.2 × 10^(-5)) implies that little or no He-shell material had been dredged into the envelope when this grain formed. We also report isotopic compositions for 12 new circumstellar corundum grains. The compositions of 11 of these grains are consistent with current models for red giant and AGB stars. One corundum grain has extremely high ^(17)O/^(16)O and near-solar ^(18)O/^(16)O and may have formed in a star that was initially enriched in ^(17)O and ^(18)O

THE IMPACT OF CULTURE AND CULTURAL DIMENSIONS ON STUDENTSʼ E-MAIL CORRESPONDENCE – A PILOT STUDY

E-mail correspondence between teachers and students is common. Online communication provides students with possibilities to write to teachers directly, using a diverse level of knowledge, level of ignorance and personal beliefs. The aim of this paper is to answer whether culture and cultural dimensions (defined by Hofstede’s high and low Power Distance dimension) influence the professional correspondence between teachers and students. The small-scale corpus consists of 100 e-mails, 50 written by Slovene students in English or Slovene, and 50 by Serbian students in Serbian or English. The research investigates the choice of e-mail template, the choice of language (native tongue or language of instructions), and the norms related to politeness and power distance, with the focus on salutations, formality, polite expressions, and directness. Usage of lexical modifiers, such as downtoners, upstaters and hedges will also be investigated. The results will demonstrate that e-mails by Slovene students follow new cultural standards and have become more indirect and informal, while Serbian students write e-mails with formal salutations and direct requests following the inherited hierarchy and still unmodified cultural dimensions

An E2-ubiquitin thioester-driven approach to identify substrates modified with ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like molecules.

Covalent modifications of proteins with ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like molecules are instrumental to many biological processes. However, identifying the E3 ligase responsible for these modifications remains a major bottleneck in ubiquitin research. Here, we present an E2-thioester-driven identification (E2~dID) method for the targeted identification of substrates of specific E2 and E3 enzyme pairs. E2~dID exploits the central position of E2-conjugating enzymes in the ubiquitination cascade and provides in vitro generated biotinylated E2~ubiquitin thioester conjugates as the sole source for ubiquitination in extracts. This enables purification and mass spectrometry-based identification of modified proteins under stringent conditions independently of the biological source of the extract. We demonstrate the sensitivity and specificity of E2-dID by identifying and validating substrates of APC/C in human cells. Finally, we perform E2~dID with SUMO in S. cerevisiae, showing that this approach can be easily adapted to other ubiquitin-like modifiers and experimental models

CN and CH Band Strengths of Bright Giants in M3

CN and CH band strengths for ten bright red giants in M3 have been measured from archival spectra obtained with the MMT. A CN-CH band strength anticorrelation is confirmed for the program stars together with other stars for which there is published data. This suggests an anticorrelation between carbon and nitrogen abundances with a constant total abundance of carbon plus nitrogen. However, stars which do not follow the CN-CH anticorrelation are also found. The star III-77, which is found to have both strong CN and CH bands, is the most peculiar among them. While three other stars, VZ194, VZ352, and VZ1420, which show both weak CN and CH band strengths could be AGB stars.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Biomarkers Associated with Organ-Specific Involvement in Juvenile Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE) is characterised by onset before 18 years of age and more severe disease phenotype, increased morbidity and mortality compared to adult-onset SLE. Management strategies in JSLE rely heavily on evidence derived from adult-onset SLE studies; therefore, identifying biomarkers associated with the disease pathogenesis and reflecting particularities of JSLE clinical phenotype holds promise for better patient management and improved outcomes. This narrative review summarises the evidence related to various traditional and novel biomarkers that have shown a promising role in identifying and predicting specific organ involvement in JSLE and appraises the evidence regarding their clinical utility, focusing in particular on renal biomarkers, while also emphasising the research into cardiovascular, haematological, neurological, skin and joint disease-related JSLE biomarkers, as well as genetic biomarkers with potential clinical applications

The relative emphasis on supply-chain/logistics topics by UK industry in hiring postgraduates and by UK universities in teaching and research

We examine how UK universities view different topics within supply-chain management as seen in their research output and their postgraduate curricula and whether this view matches the relative emphasis on these aspects by UK-based employers when hiring. Using content analysis, we analysed: (1) UK-based supply-chain/logistics job advertisements, (2) abstracts of research articles by UK academics in supply-chain/logistics journals, and (3) the description of the postgraduate-level supply-chain/logistics degrees in UK universities. Our findings show that the overall research output of UK universities is broadly in line with employers' needs with regards to the relative emphasis on different supply-chain topics. However, their relative emphasis on these topics in their teaching programmes is quite different. We suggest that universities need to look into their provision of academic programmes in relation to employers' needs and need to look into how to leverage their research output better for this purpose

Ex Vivo Treatment with a Novel Synthetic Aminoglycoside NB54 in Primary Fibroblasts from Rett Syndrome Patients Suppresses MECP2 Nonsense Mutations

BACKGROUND: Nonsense mutations in the X-linked methyl CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) comprise a significant proportion of causative MECP2 mutations in Rett syndrome (RTT). Naturally occurring aminoglycosides, such as gentamicin, have been shown to enable partial suppression of nonsense mutations related to several human genetic disorders, however, their clinical applicability has been compromised by parallel findings of severe toxic effects. Recently developed synthetic NB aminoglycosides have demonstrated significantly improved effects compared to gentamicin evident in substantially higher suppression and reduced acute toxicity in vitro. RESULTS: We performed comparative study of suppression effects of the novel NB54 and gentamicin on three MECP2 nonsense mutations (R294X, R270X and R168X) common in RTT, using ex vivo treatment of primary fibroblasts from RTT patients harboring these mutations and testing for the C-terminal containing full-length MeCP2. We observed that NB54 induces dose-dependent suppression of MECP2 nonsense mutations more efficiently than gentamicin, which was evident at concentrations as low as 50 µg/ml. NB54 read-through activity was mutation specific, with maximal full-length MeCP2 recovery in R168X (38%), R270X (27%) and R294X (18%). In addition, the recovered MeCP2 was translocated to the cell nucleus and moreover led to parallel increase in one of the most important MeCP2 downstream effectors, the brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that NB54 may induce restoration of the potentially functional MeCP2 in primary RTT fibroblasts and encourage further studies of NB54 and other rationally designed aminoglycoside derivatives as potential therapeutic agents for nonsense MECP2 mutations in RTT