585 research outputs found
Size and age at maturity of female red snapper Lutjanus campechanus in the northern Gulf of Mexico
The Attraction vs. Production Debate: Does it Really Matter from the Management Perspective? A Response to the Commentary by Shipp, R.L., 1999, Gulf of Mexico Science XVII, 51-55
Polarization in Top Quark Pair Production near Threshold
The polarization dependent momentum distributions of top quarks and their
decay products are calculated for production at future
colliders with polarized beams. The Green function formalism is applied to this
reaction near energy threshold. The Lippmann--Schwinger equations for the
-wave and -wave Green functions are solved numerically for the QCD
chromostatic potential given by the two-loop formula at large momentum
transfers and Richardson ansatz at intermediate and small ones. It is
demonstrated that for the longitudinally polarized electron beam an optimally
polarized sample of top quarks can be produced.Comment: 11 pages, LaTex (uses epsf.sty, 3 ps-figures appended as extra
uuencoded file). The complete paper, including figures, is also available via
anonymous ftp at ftp://ttpux2.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de/ttp94-28/ttp94-28.ps,
or via www at http://ttpux2.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de/preprints.htm
Using tourism free-choice learning experiences to promote environmentally sustainable behaviour: The role of post-visit ‘action resources’
This paper argues the need for the providers of ecotourism and other free‐choice environmental learning experiences to promote the adoption of environmentally sustainable actions beyond their own sites, when visitors return to their home environments. Previous research indicates that although visitors often leave such experiences with a heightened awareness of conservation issues and intentions to adopt environmentally responsible behaviours, only a minority translate these intentions into real actions. Building on research and theory in relation to visitor experiences in free‐choice learning environments, the paper identifies three different stages in the educational process and proposes a strategy for facilitating the translation of visitors' behavioural intentions into the adoption of sustainable actions through the provision of post‐visit action resources
O-fucosylation stabilizes the TSR3 motif in thrombospondin-1 by interacting with nearby amino acids and protecting a disulfide bond; 35597280
Thrombospondin type-1 repeats (TSRs) are small protein motifs containing six conserved cysteines forming three disulfide bonds that can be modified with an O-linked fucose. Protein O-fucosyltransferase 2 (POFUT2) catalyzes the addition of O-fucose to TSRs containing the appropriate consensus sequence, and the O-fucose modification can be elongated to a Glucose-Fucose disaccharide with the addition of glucose by ß3-glucosyltransferase (B3GLCT). Elimination of Pofut2 in mice results in embryonic lethality in mice, highlighting the biological significance of O-fucose modification on TSRs. Knockout of POFUT2 in HEK293T cells has been shown to cause complete or partial loss of secretion of many proteins containing O-fucosylated TSRs. In addition, POFUT2 is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and only modifies folded TSRs, stabilizing their structures. These observations suggest that POFUT2 is involved in an ER quality control mechanism for TSR folding and that B3GLCT also participates in quality control by providing additional stabilization to TSRs. However, the mechanisms by which addition of these sugars result in stabilization are poorly understood. Here, we conducted molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and provide crystallographic and NMR evidence that the Glucose-Fucose disaccharide interacts with specific amino acids in the TSR3 domain in thrombospondin-1 that are within proximity to the O-fucosylation modification site resulting in protection of a nearby disulfide bond. We also show that mutation of these amino acids reduces the stabilizing effect of the sugars in vitro. These data provide mechanistic details regarding the importance of O-fucosylation and how it participates in quality control mechanisms inside the ER
Further Comparison between ATNoSFERES and XCSM
International audienceIn this paper we present ATNoSFERES, a new framework based on an indirect encoding Genetic Algorithm which builds finite-state automata controllers able to deal with perceptual aliazing. In the context of our ongoing line of research, we compare it with XCSM, a memory-based extension of the most studied Learning Classifier System, XCS, through two benchmark experiments. We focus in particular on internal state generalization, and add special purpose features to ATNoSFERES to fulfill that comparison. We then discuss the role played by internal state generalization in the experiments studied
Exact Cover with light
We suggest a new optical solution for solving the YES/NO version of the Exact
Cover problem by using the massive parallelism of light. The idea is to build
an optical device which can generate all possible solutions of the problem and
then to pick the correct one. In our case the device has a graph-like
representation and the light is traversing it by following the routes given by
the connections between nodes. The nodes are connected by arcs in a special way
which lets us to generate all possible covers (exact or not) of the given set.
For selecting the correct solution we assign to each item, from the set to be
covered, a special integer number. These numbers will actually represent delays
induced to light when it passes through arcs. The solution is represented as a
subray arriving at a certain moment in the destination node. This will tell us
if an exact cover does exist or not.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, New Generation Computing, accepted, 200
Orbital Dependent Phase Control in Ca2-xSrxRuO4
We present first-principles studies on the orbital states of the layered
perovskites CaSrRuO. The crossover from antiferromagnetic (AF)
Mott insulator for to nearly ferromagnetic (FM) metal at is
characterized by the systematic change of the orbital occupation. For the
AF side (), we present firm evidence for the ferro-orbital
ordering. It is found that the degeneracy of (or ) states is
lifted robustly due to the two-dimensional (2D) crystal-structure, even without
the Jahn-Teller distortion of RuO. This effect dominates, and the
cooperative occupation of orbital is concluded. In contrast to recent
proposals, the resulting electronic structure explains well both the observed
X-ray absorption spectra and the double peak structure of optical conductivity.
For the FM side (), however, the orbital with half filling opens a
pseudo-gap in the FM state and contributes to the spin =1/2 moment (rather
than =1 for =0.0 case) dominantly, while states are itinerant
with very small spin polarization, explaining the recent neutron data
consistently.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Cytochrome oxidase subunit VI of Trypanosoma brucei is imported without a cleaved presequence and is developmentally regulated at both RNA and protein levels
Mitochondrial respiration in the African trypanosome undergoes dramatic developmental stage regulation. This requires co-ordinated control of components encoded by both the nuclear genome and the kinetoplast, the unusual mitochondrial genome of these parasites. As a model for understanding the co-ordination of these genomes, we have examined the regulation and mitochondrial import of a nuclear-encoded component of the cytochrome oxidase complex, cytochrome oxidase subunit VI (COXVI). By generating transgenic trypanosomes expressing intact or mutant forms of this protein, we demonstrate that COXVI is not imported using a conventional cleaved presequence and show that sequences at the N-terminus of the protein are necessary for correct mitochondrial sorting. Analyses of endogenous and transgenic COXVI mRNA and protein expression in parasites undergoing developmental stage differentiation demonstrates a temporal order of control involving regulation in the abundance of, first, mRNA and then protein. This represents the first dissection of the regulation and import of a nuclear-encoded protein into the cytochrome oxidase complex in these organisms, which were among the earliest eukaryotes to possess a mitochondrion
Body mass index, but not FTO genotype or major depressive disorder, influences brain structure
Obesity and major depressive disorder (MDD) are highly prevalent and often comorbid health conditions. Both are associated with differences in brain structure and are genetically influenced. Yet, little is known about how obesity, MDD, and known risk genotypes might interact in the brain. Subjects were 81 patients with MDD (mean age 48.6 years) and 69 matched healthy controls (mean age 51.2 years). Subjects underwent 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging, genotyping for the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene rs3751812 polymorphism, and measurements for body mass index (BMI). We conducted a whole brain voxelwise analysis using tensor-based morphometry (TBM) to examine the main and interaction effects of diagnosis, BMI and FTO genotype. Significant effects of BMI were observed across widespread brain regions, indicating reductions in predominantly subcortical and white matter areas associated with increased BMI, but there was no influence of MDD or FTO rs3751812 genotype. There were no significant interaction effects. Within MDD patients, there was no effect of current depressive symptoms; however the use of antidepressant medication was associated with reductions in brain volume in the frontal lobe and cerebellum. Obesity affects brain structure in both healthy participants and MDD patients; this influence may account for some of the brain changes previously associated with MDD. BMI and the use of medication should ideally be measured and controlled for when conducting structural brain imaging research in MDD
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