192 research outputs found

    Attachment to an endogenous laminin-like protein initiates sprouting by leech neurons.

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    Leech neurons in culture sprout rapidly when attached to extracts from connective tissue surrounding the nervous system. Laminin-like molecules that promote sprouting have now been isolated from this extracellular matrix. Two mAbs have been prepared that react on immunoblots with a approximately equal to 220- and a approximately equal to 340-kD polypeptide, respectively. These antibodies have been used to purify molecules with cross-shaped structures in the electron microscope. The molecules, of approximately equal to 10(3) kD on nonreducing SDS gels, have subunits of approximately equal to 340, 220, and 160-180 kD. Attachment to the laminin-like molecules was sufficient to initiate sprouting by single isolated leech neurons in defined medium. This demonstrates directly a function for a laminin-related invertebrate protein. The mAbs directed against the approximately equal to 220-kD chains of the laminin-like leech molecule labeled basement membrane extracellular matrix in leech ganglia and nerves. A polyclonal antiserum against the approximately equal to 220-kD polypeptide inhibited neurite outgrowth. Vertebrate laminin did not mediate the sprouting of leech neurons; similarly, the leech molecule was an inert substrate for vertebrate neurons. Although some traits of structure, function, and distribution are conserved between vertebrate laminin and the invertebrate molecule, our results suggest that the functional domains differ

    Nuclear dependence of the transverse-single-spin asymmetry for forward neutron production in polarized pp++AA collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV

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    During 2015 the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provided collisions of transversely polarized protons with Au and Al nuclei for the first time, enabling the exploration of transverse-single-spin asymmetries with heavy nuclei. Large single-spin asymmetries in very forward neutron production have been previously observed in transversely polarized pp++pp collisions at RHIC, and the existing theoretical framework that was successful in describing the single-spin asymmetry in pp++pp collisions predicts only a moderate atomic-mass-number (AA) dependence. In contrast, the asymmetries observed at RHIC in pp++AA collisions showed a surprisingly strong AA dependence in inclusive forward neutron production. The observed asymmetry in pp++Al collisions is much smaller, while the asymmetry in pp++Au collisions is a factor of three larger in absolute value and of opposite sign. The interplay of different neutron production mechanisms is discussed as a possible explanation of the observed AA dependence.Comment: 315 authors, 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. v2 is version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

    L\'evy-stable two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV Au++Au collisions

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    We present a detailed measurement of charged two-pion correlation functions in 0%-30% centrality sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV Au++Au collisions by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The data are well described by Bose-Einstein correlation functions stemming from L\'evy-stable source distributions. Using a fine transverse momentum binning, we extract the correlation strength parameter λ\lambda, the L\'evy index of stability α\alpha and the L\'evy length scale parameter RR as a function of average transverse mass of the pair mTm_T. We find that the positively and the negatively charged pion pairs yield consistent results, and their correlation functions are represented, within uncertainties, by the same L\'evy-stable source functions. The λ(mT)\lambda(m_T) measurements indicate a decrease of the strength of the correlations at low mTm_T. The L\'evy length scale parameter R(mT)R(m_T) decreases with increasing mTm_T, following a hydrodynamically predicted type of scaling behavior. The values of the L\'evy index of stability α\alpha are found to be significantly lower than the Gaussian case of α=2\alpha=2, but also significantly larger than the conjectured value that may characterize the critical point of a second-order quark-hadron phase transition.Comment: 448 authors, 25 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, 2010 data. v2 is version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
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