6,995 research outputs found
Linear signaling in the Toll-Dorsal pathway of Drosophila: activated Pelle kinase specifies all threshold outputs of gene expression while the bHLH protein Twist specifies a subset
Differential activation of the Toll receptor leads to the formation of a broad Dorsal nuclear gradient that specifies at least three patterning thresholds of gene activity along the dorsoventral axis of precellular embryos. We investigate the activities of the Pelle kinase and Twist basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor in transducing Toll signaling. Pelle functions downstream of Toll to release Dorsal from the Cactus inhibitor. Twist is an immediate-early gene that is activated upon entry of Dorsal into nuclei. Transgenes misexpressing Pelle and Twist were introduced into different mutant backgrounds and the patterning activities were visualized using various target genes that respond to different thresholds of Toll-Dorsal signaling. These studies suggest that an anteroposterior gradient of Pelle kinase activity is sufficient to generate all known Toll-Dorsal patterning thresholds and that Twist can function as a gradient morphogen to establish at least two distinct dorsoventral patterning thresholds. We discuss how the Dorsal gradient system can be modified during metazoan evolution and conclude that Dorsal-Twist interactions are distinct from the interplay between Bicoid and Hunchback, which pattern the anteroposterior axis
Skein relations for Milnor's mu-invariants
The theory of link-homotopy, introduced by Milnor, is an important part of
the knot theory, with Milnor's mu-bar-invariants being the basic set of
link-homotopy invariants. Skein relations for knot and link invariants played a
crucial role in the recent developments of knot theory. However, while skein
relations for Alexander and Jones invariants are known for quite a while, a
similar treatment of Milnor's mu-bar-invariants was missing. We fill this gap
by deducing simple skein relations for link-homotopy mu-invariants of string
links.Comment: Published by Algebraic and Geometric Topology at
http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/agt/AGTVol5/agt-5-58.abs.htm
ACF estimation via difference schemes for a semiparametric model with -dependent errors
In this manuscript, we discuss a class of difference-based estimators of the
autocovariance structure in a semiparametric regression model where the signal
is discontinuous and the errors are serially correlated. The signal in this
model consists of a sum of the function with jumps and an identifiable smooth
function. A simpler form of this model has been considered earlier under the
name of Nonparametric Jump Regression (NJRM). The estimators proposed allow us
to bypass a complicated problem of prior estimation of the mean signal in such
a model. We provide finite-sample expressions for biases and variance of the
proposed estimators when the errors are Gaussian. Gaussianity in the above is
only needed to provide explicit closed form expressions for biases and
variances of our estimators. Moreover, we observe that the mean squared error
of the proposed variance estimator does not depend on either the unknown smooth
function that is a part of the mean signal nor on the values of difference
sequence coefficients. Our approach also suggests sufficient conditions for
consistency of the proposed estimators.Comment: 30 page
Morse theory of harmonic forms
We consider the problem of whether it is possible to improve the Novikov
inequalities for closed 1-forms, or any other inequalities of a similar nature,
if we assume, additionally, that the given 1-form is harmonic with respect to
some Riemannian metric. We show that, under suitable assumptions, it is
impossible. We use, in an essential way, a theorem of E.Calabi characterizing
1-forms which are harmonic with respect to some metric. We also study some
interesting examples illustrating our results.Comment: 16 pages, AMSTex, 12 figure
What About BOEM? The Need to Reform the Regulations Governing Offshore Oil and Gas Planning and Leasing
The nature of offshore oil and gas activities is changing as companies are forced into difficult and remote areas, including the U.S. Arctic Ocean. As evidenced by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy and Shell\u27s error-plagued efforts to drill exploration wells in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in 2012, the rules governing whether and under what conditions to allow offshore drilling in frontier areas have not kept pace with environmental and technical changes. These rules were implemented in 1979 and have remained substantively the same since. Recent changes to at the Department of the Interior to disband the Minerals Management Service, improve certain safety requirements, and move toward implementing Arctic-specific spill prevention and response requirements are important steps. Those changes, however, apply only after the decision to allow oil and gas activity has been made. Congress has not amended the governing statute, and the agency has not modified in any meaningful way the regulations that govern the initial processes through which it decides whether and under what circumstances to allow offshore oil and gas activities in a given area. This Article argues that the regulations that govern offshore oil and gas planning and leasing should be fundamentally revised to account for changes in the industry and agency, remedy broadly acknowledged deficiencies, and reflect new administrative policies. It also recommends a path to achieve the needed change
Properties of developmental gene regulatory networks
The modular components, or subcircuits, of developmental gene regulatory networks (GRNs) execute specific developmental functions, such as the specification of cell identity. We survey examples of such subcircuits and relate their structures to corresponding developmental functions. These relations transcend organisms and genes, as illustrated by the similar structures of the subcircuits controlling the specification of the mesectoderm in the Drosophila embryo and the endomesoderm in the sea urchin, even though the respective subcircuits are composed of nonorthologous regulatory genes
Are Investments in Daughters Lower When Daughters Move Away?
In much of the developing world daughters receive lower education and other investments than do their brothers, and may even be so devalued as to suffer differential mortality. Daughter disadvantage may be due in part to social norms that prescribe that daughters move away from their natal family upon marriage, a practice known as virilocality. We evaluate the effects of virilocality on female disadvantage using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey. We find little support for the hypothesis. There is no evidence that the overall pattern of rough equality in the treatment of boys and girls in Indonesia masks differences according to post-marital residential practice. Virilocal groups do not have "missing daughters." Nor is there other evidence of son preference, such as in relatively low height for- age or education for girls and women in virilocal areas. Explanations of daughter disadvantage as due to virilocality should be subject to further scrutiny and contextualization.
The Contraction of Time and Space in Remote Chromosomal Interactions
Lucas etĀ al. report the visualization of V(D)J recombination of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene (Igh) in living pro-B cells. Despite the huge distances separating V coding sequences from D-J sequences (ā¼2 Mb), the authors document an astonishingly rapid rate of remote associations. The key to speed is contraction of the Igh chromosomal domain. These findings provide a foundation for understanding long-range regulatory interactions in a variety of developmental processes, including the patterning of vertebrate limbs
- ā¦