FHY1 Mediates Nuclear Import of the Light-Activated Phytochrome A Photoreceptor

The phytochrome (phy) family of photoreceptors is of crucial importance throughout the life cycle of higher plants. Light-induced nuclear import is required for most phytochrome responses. Nuclear accumulation of phyA is dependent on two related proteins called FHY1 (Far-red elongated HYpocotyl 1) and FHL (FHY1 Like), with FHY1 playing the predominant function. The transcription of FHY1 and FHL are controlled by FHY3 (Far-red elongated HYpocotyl 3) and FAR1 (FAr-red impaired Response 1), a related pair of transcription factors, which thus indirectly control phyA nuclear accumulation. FHY1 and FHL preferentially interact with the light-activated form of phyA, but the mechanism by which they enable photoreceptor accumulation in the nucleus remains unsolved. Sequence comparison of numerous FHY1-related proteins indicates that only the NLS located at the N-terminus and the phyA-interaction domain located at the C-terminus are conserved. We demonstrate that these two parts of FHY1 are sufficient for FHY1 function. phyA nuclear accumulation is inhibited in the presence of high levels of FHY1 variants unable to enter the nucleus. Furthermore, nuclear accumulation of phyA becomes light- and FHY1-independent when an NLS sequence is fused to phyA, strongly suggesting that FHY1 mediates nuclear import of light-activated phyA. In accordance with this idea, FHY1 and FHY3 become functionally dispensable in seedlings expressing a constitutively nuclear version of phyA. Our data suggest that the mechanism uncovered in Arabidopsis is conserved in higher plants. Moreover, this mechanism allows us to propose a model explaining why phyA needs a specific nuclear import pathway

Nuclear localization and function of polypeptide ligands and their receptors: a new paradigm for hormone specificity within the mammary gland?

The specific effects triggered by polypeptide hormone/growth factor stimulation of mammary cells were considered mediated solely by receptor-associated signaling networks. A compelling body of new data, however, clearly indicates that polypeptide ligands and/or their receptors are transported into the nucleus, where they function directly to regulate the expression of specific transcription factors and gene loci. The intranuclear function of these complexes may contribute to the explicit functions associated with a given ligand, and may serve as new targets for pharmacologic intervention

Search for CP violation in D+→ϕπ+ and D+s→K0Sπ+ decays

A search for CP violation in D + → ϕπ + decays is performed using data collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 at a centre of mass energy of 7 TeV. The CP -violating asymmetry is measured to be (−0.04 ± 0.14 ± 0.14)% for candidates with K − K + mass within 20 MeV/c 2 of the ϕ meson mass. A search for a CP -violating asymmetry that varies across the ϕ mass region of the D + → K − K + π + Dalitz plot is also performed, and no evidence for CP violation is found. In addition, the CP asymmetry in the D+s→K0Sπ+ decay is measured to be (0.61 ± 0.83 ± 0.14)%

Study of Bc+B_c^+ decays to the K+K−π+K^+K^-\pi^+ final state and evidence for the decay Bc+→χc0π+B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}\pi^+

A study of $B_c^+\to K^+K^-\pi^+$ decays is performed for the first time using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $7$ and $8$ TeV. Evidence for the decay $B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}(\to K^+K^-)\pi^+$ is reported with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations, resulting in the measurement of $\frac{\sigma(B_c^+)}{\sigma(B^+)}\times\mathcal{B}(B_c^+\to\chi_{c0}\pi^+)$ to be $(9.8^{+3.4}_{-3.0}(\mathrm{stat})\pm 0.8(\mathrm{syst}))\times 10^{-6}$. Here $\mathcal{B}$ denotes a branching fraction while $\sigma(B_c^+)$ and $\sigma(B^+)$ are the production cross-sections for $B_c^+$ and $B^+$ mesons. An indication of $\bar b c$ weak annihilation is found for the region $m(K^-\pi^+)<1.834\mathrm{\,Ge\kern -0.1em V\!/}c^2$, with a significance of 2.4 standard deviations.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-022.html, link to supplemental material inserted in the reference

Study of DJ meson decays to D+π−, D0π+ and D∗+π− final states in pp collisions

A study of D+π−, D0π+ and D∗+π− final states is performed using pp collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1, collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the LHCb detector. The D1(2420)0 resonance is observed in the D∗+π− final state and the D∗2(2460) resonance is observed in the D+π−, D0π+ and D∗+π− final states. For both resonances, their properties and spin-parity assignments are obtained. In addition, two natural parity and two unnatural parity resonances are observed in the mass region between 2500 and 2800 MeV. Further structures in the region around 3000 MeV are observed in all the D∗+π−, D+π− and D0π+ final states

Inter-observer reproducibility of measurements of range of motion in patients with shoulder pain using a digital inclinometer

BACKGROUND: Reproducible measurements of the range of motion are an important prerequisite for the interpretation of study results. The digital inclinometer is considered to be a useful instrument because it is inexpensive and easy to use. No previous study assessed inter-observer reproducibility of range of motion measurements with a digital inclinometer by physical therapists in a large sample of patients. METHODS: Two physical therapists independently measured the passive range of motion of the glenohumeral abduction and the external rotation in 155 patients with shoulder pain. Agreement was quantified by calculation of the mean differences between the observers and the standard deviation (SD) of this difference and the limits of agreement, defined as the mean difference ± 1.96*SD of this difference. Reliability was quantified by means of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: The limits of agreement were 0.8 ± 19.6 for glenohumeral abduction and -4.6 ± 18.8 for external rotation (affected side) and quite similar for the contralateral side and the differences between sides. The percentage agreement within 10° for these measurements were 72% and 70% respectively. The ICC ranged from 0.28 to 0.90 (0.83 and 0.90 for the affected side). CONCLUSIONS: The inter-observer agreement was found to be poor. If individual patients are assessed by two different observers, differences in range of motion of less than 20–25 degrees can not be distuinguished from measurement error. In contrast, acceptable reliability was found for the inclinometric measurements of the affected side and the differences between the sides, indicating that the inclimeter can be used in studies in which groups are compared