219 research outputs found
Intramembranous processing by γ-secretase regulates reverse signaling of ephrin-B2 in migration of microglia
The Eph-ephrin system plays pivotal roles in cell adhesion and migration. The receptor-like functions of the ephrin ligands allow the regulation of intracellular processes via reverse signaling. γ-Secretase mediated processing of ephrin-B has previously been linked to activation of Src, a kinase crucial for focal adhesion and podosome phosphorylation. Here, we analyzed the role of γ-secretase in the stimulation of reverse ephrin-B2 signaling in the migration of mouse embryonic stem cell derived microglia. The proteolytic generation of the ephrin-B2 intracellular domain (ICD) by γ-secretase stimulates Src and focal adhesion kinase (FAK). Inhibition of γ-secretase decreased the phosphorylation of Src and FAK, and reduced cell motility. These effects were associated with enlargement of the podosomal surface. Interestingly, expression of ephrin-B2 ICD could rescue these effects, indicating that this proteolytic fragment mediates the activation of Src and FAK, and thereby regulates podosomal dynamics in microglial cells. Together, these results identify γ-secretase as well as ephrin-B2 as regulators of microglial migration
Search for eta-mesic 4He in the dd->3He n pi0 and dd->3He p pi- reactions with the WASA-at-COSY facility
The search for 4He-eta bound states was performed with the WASA-at-COSY
facility via the measurement of the excitation function for the dd->3He n pi0
and dd->3He p pi- processes. The beam momentum was varied continuously between
2.127 GeV/c and 2.422 GeV/c, corresponding to the excess energy for the dd->4He
eta reaction ranging from Q=-70 MeV to Q=30 MeV. The luminosity was determined
based on the dd->3He n reaction and quasi-free proton-proton scattering via
dd->pp n_spectator n_spectator reactions. The excitation functions determined
independently for the measured reactions do not reveal a structure which could
be interpreted as a narrow mesic nucleus. Therefore, the upper limits of the
total cross sections for the bound state production and decay in
dd->(4He-eta)_bound->3He n pi0 and dd->(4He-eta)_bound->3He p pi- processes
were determined taking into account the isospin relation between both the
channels considered. The results of the analysis depend on the assumptions of
the N* momentum distribution in the anticipated mesic-4He. Assuming as in the
previous works, that this is identical with the distribution of nucleons bound
with 20 MeV in 4He, we determined that (for the mesic bound state width in the
range from 5 MeV to 50 MeV) the upper limits at 90% confidence level are about
3 nb and about 6 nb for npi0 and ppi- channels, respectively. However, based on
the recent theoretical findings of the N*(1535) momentum distribution in the
N*-3He nucleus bound by 3.6 MeV, we find that the WASA-at-COSY detector
acceptance decreases and hence the corresponding upper limits are 5 nb and 10
nb for npi0 and ppi- channels respectively.Comment: This article will be submitted to JHE
Charge Symmetry Breaking in dd->4He{\pi}0 with WASA-at-COSY
Charge symmetry breaking (CSB) observables are a suitable experimental tool
to examine effects induced by quark masses on the nuclear level. Previous high
precision data from TRIUMF and IUCF are currently used to develop a consistent
description of CSB within the framework of chiral perturbation theory. In this
work the experimental studies on the reaction dd->4He{\pi}0 have been extended
towards higher excess energies in order to provide information on the
contribution of p-waves in the final state. For this, an exclusive measurement
has been carried out at a beam momentum of p=1.2 GeV/c using the WASA-at-COSY
facility. The total cross section amounts to sigma(tot) = (118 +- 18(stat) +-
13(sys) +- 8(ext)) pb and first data on the differential cross section are
consistent with s-wave pion production.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Distributive politics and regional development: assessing the territorial distribution of Turkey’s public investment
Turkey is often perceived as a country with low bureaucratic capacity and prone to political manipulation and ‘pork-barrel’. This article tests whether this is the case, by analysing the extent to which politics, rather than equity and efficiency criteria, have determined the geographical allocation of public investment across the 81 provinces of Turkey between 2005 and 2012. The results show that although the Turkish government has indeed channelled public expenditures to reward its core constituencies, socioeconomic factors remained the most relevant predictors of investment. Moreover, in contrast to official regional development policy principles, we uncover the concentration of public investment in areas with comparatively higher levels of development. We interpret this as the state bureaucracy’s intentional strategy of focussing on efficiency by concentrating resources on ‘the better off among the most in need’
ABC Effect and Resonance Structure in the Double-Pionic Fusion to He
Exclusive and kinematically complete measurements of the double pionic fusion
to He have been performed in the energy region of the so-called ABC effect,
which denotes a pronounced low-mass enhancement in the -invariant mass
spectrum. The experiments were carried out with the WASA detector setup at
COSY. Similar to the observations in the basic reaction
and in the He reaction, the data reveal a correlation
between the ABC effect and a resonance-like energy dependence in the total
cross section. Differential cross sections are well described by the hypothesis
of resonance formation during the reaction process in addition to the
conventional -channel mechanism. The deduced resonance
width can be understood from collision broadening due to Fermi motion of the
nucleons in initial and final nuclei
Cross section ratio and angular distributions of the reaction p + d -> 3He + eta at 48.8 MeV and 59.8 MeV excess energy
We present new data for angular distributions and on the cross section ratio
of the p + d -> 3He + eta reaction at excess energies of Q = 48.8 MeV and Q =
59.8 MeV. The data have been obtained at the WASA-at-COSY experiment
(Forschungszentrum J\"ulich) using a proton beam and a deuterium pellet target.
While the shape of obtained angular distributions show only a slow variation
with the energy, the new results indicate a distinct and unexpected total cross
section fluctuation between Q = 20 MeV and Q = 60 MeV, which might indicate the
variation of the production mechanism within this energy interval.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Neutron-Proton Scattering in the Context of the (2380) Resonance
New data on quasifree polarized neutron-proton scattering, in the region of
the recently observed resonance structure, have been obtained by
exclusive and kinematically complete high-statistics measurements with WASA at
COSY. This paper details the determination of the beam polarization, checks of
the quasifree character of the scattering process, on all obtained
angular distributions and on the new partial-wave analysis, which includes the
new data producing a resonance pole in the - coupled partial
waves at () MeV -- in accordance with the dibaryon
resonance hypothesis. The effect of the new partial-wave solution on the
description of total and differential cross section data as well as specific
combinations of spin-correlation and spin-transfer observables available from
COSY-ANKE measurements at = 2.27 GeV is discussed
Measurement of the Reaction in Search for the Recently Observed Resonance Structure in and systems
Exclusive measurements of the quasi-free reaction have
been performed by means of collisions at = 1.2 GeV using the WASA
detector setup at COSY. Total and differential cross sections have been
obtained covering the energy region = (2.35 - 2.46) GeV, which
includes the region of the ABC effect and its associated resonance structure.
No ABC effect, {\it i.e.} low-mass enhancement is found in the
-invariant mass spectrum -- in agreement with the constraint from
Bose statistics that the isovector pion pair can not be in relative s-wave. At
the upper end of the covered energy region -channel processes for Roper,
and excitations provide a reasonable description
of the data, but at low energies the measured cross sections are much larger
than predicted by such processes. Adding a resonance amplitude for the
resonance at =~2.37 GeV with =~70 MeV and observed
recently in and reactions leads to an
agreement with the data also at low energies
Evidence for a New Resonance from Polarized Neutron-Proton Scattering
Exclusive and kinematically complete high-statistics measurements of
quasifree polarized scattering have been performed in the energy
region of the narrow resonance structure with , 2380 MeV/ and 70 MeV observed recently in the
double-pionic fusion channels and .
The experiment was carried out with the WASA detector setup at COSY having a
polarized deuteron beam impinged on the hydrogen pellet target and utilizing
the quasifree process . That way the
analyzing power was measured over a large angular range. The obtained
angular distributions deviate systematically from the current SAID SP07
NN partial-wave solution. Incorporating the new data into the SAID
analysis produces a pole in the waves as expected from the
resonance hypothesis
Response of a Li-glass/multi-anode photomultiplier detector to collimated thermal-neutron beams
The response of a position-sensitive Li-glass scintillator detector being
developed for thermal-neutron detection with 6 mm position resolution has been
investigated using collimated beams of thermal neutrons. The detector was moved
perpendicularly through the neutron beams in 0.5 to 1.0 mm horizontal and
vertical steps. Scintillation was detected in an 8 X 8 pixel multi-anode
photomultiplier tube on an event-by-event basis. In general, several pixels
registered large signals at each neutron-beam location. The number of pixels
registering signal above a set threshold was investigated, with the
maximization of the single-hit efficiency over the largest possible area of the
detector as the primary goal. At a threshold of ~50% of the mean of the
full-deposition peak, ~80% of the events were registered in a single pixel,
resulting in an effective position resolution of ~5 mm in X and Y. Lower
thresholds generally resulted in events demonstrating higher pixel
multiplicities, but these events could also be localized with ~5 mm position
resolution.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure
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