316 research outputs found

    Homeostatic apoptosis prevents competition-induced atrophy in follicular B cells

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    While the intrinsic apoptosis pathway is thought to play a central role in shaping the B cell lineage, its precise role in mature B cell homeostasis remains elusive. Using mice in which mature B cells are unable to undergo apoptotic cell death, we show that apoptosis constrains follicular B (FoB) cell lifespan but plays no role in marginal zone B (MZB) cell homeostasis. In these mice, FoB cells accumulate abnormally. This intensifies intercellular competition for BAFF, resulting in a contraction of the MZB cell compartment, and reducing the growth, trafficking, and fitness of FoB cells. Diminished BAFF signaling dampens the non-canonical NF-κB pathway, undermining FoB cell growth despite the concurrent triggering of a protective p53 response. Thus, MZB and FoB cells exhibit a differential requirement for the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. Homeostatic apoptosis constrains the size of the FoB cell compartment, thereby preventing competition-induced FoB cell atrophy.Stéphane Chappaz, Kate McArthur, Liam Kealy, Charity W. Law, Maximilien Tailler, Rachael M. Lane ... et al

    Callophycoic acids and callophycols from the Fijian red alga Callophycus serratus

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    Callophycoic acids A−H (1−8) and callophycols A and B (9 and 10) were isolated from extracts of the Fijian red alga Callophycus serratus, and identified by NMR, X-ray, and mass spectral analyses. These natural products represent four novel carbon skeletons, providing the first examples of diterpene−benzoic acids and diterpene−phenols in macroalgae. Compounds 1−10 exhibited antibacterial, antimalarial, and anticancer activity, although they are less bioactive than diterpene-benzoate macrolides previously isolated from this red alga

    Correlation-Polarization Effects in Electron/Positron Scattering from Acetylene: A Comparison of Computational Models

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    Different computational methods are employed to evaluate elastic (rotationally summed) integral and differential cross sections for low energy (below about 10 eV) positron scattering off gas-phase C2_2H2_2 molecules. The computations are carried out at the static and static-plus-polarization levels for describing the interaction forces and the correlation-polarization contributions are found to be an essential component for the correct description of low-energy cross section behavior. The local model potentials derived from density functional theory (DFT) and from the distributed positron model (DPM) are found to produce very high-quality agreement with existing measurements. On the other hand, the less satisfactory agreement between the R-matrix (RM) results and measured data shows the effects of the slow convergence rate of configuration-interaction (CI) expansion methods with respect to the size of the CI-expansion. To contrast the positron scattering findings, results for electron-C2_2H2_2 integral and differential cross sections, calculated with both a DFT model potential and the R-matrix method, are compared and analysed around the shape resonance energy region and found to produce better internal agreement

    Learning difficulties : a portuguese perspective of a universal issue

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    In this article we present findings of a study that was conducted with the purpose of deepening the knowledge about the field of learning difficulties in Portugal. Therefore, within these findings we will discuss across several cultural boundaries, themes related with the existence of learning difficulties as a construct, the terminology, the political, social and scientific influences on the field, and the models of identification and of ongoing school support for students. While addressing the above-mentioned themes we will draw attention to the different, yet converging, international understandings of learning difficulties
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