Toward a Quantization of Null Dust Collapse

Spherically symmetric, null dust clouds, like their time-like counterparts, may collapse classically into black holes or naked singularities depending on their initial conditions. We consider the Hamiltonian dynamics of the collapse of an arbitrary distribution of null dust, expressed in terms of the physical radius, $R$, the null coordinates, $V$ for a collapsing cloud or $U$ for an expanding cloud, the mass function, $m$, of the null matter, and their conjugate momenta. This description is obtained from the ADM description by a Kucha\v{r}-type canonical transformation. The constraints are linear in the canonical momenta and Dirac's constraint quantization program is implemented. Explicit solutions the constraints are obtained for both expanding and contracting null dust clouds with arbitrary mass functions.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures (eps), RevTeX4. The last two sections have been revised and corrected. To appear in Phys. Rev.

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

p21 inhibits Thr161 phosphorylation of Cdc2 to enforce the G2 DNA damage checkpoint

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 is required for a sustained G2 arrest after activation of the DNA damage checkpoint. Here we have addressed the mechanism by which p21 can contribute to this arrest in G2. We show that p21 blocks the activating phosphorylation of Cdc2 on Thr161. p21 does not interfere with the dephosphorylation of two inhibitory phosphorylation sites on Cdc2, Thr14 and Tyr15, indicating that p21 targets a different event in Cdc2 activation as the well described DNA damage checkpoint pathway involving Chk1 and Cdc25C. Taken together our data show that a cell is equipped with at least two independent pathways to ensure efficient inhibition of Cdc2 activity in response to DNA damage, influencing both positive and negative regulatory phosphorylation events on Cdc2

Specificity of an antibody to a subunit of high-molecular-weight storage protein from wheat seed and its reaction with other cereal storage proteins (prolamins)

An antiserum to subunit 2 from the high-molecular-weight (HMW) subunits of the glutenin fraction of Triticum aestivum cv. Highbury was shown to react with related subunits from other cultivars of wheat. The reaction was measured quantitatively by laser nephelometry in polyethylene glycol phosphate-buffered saline after dissolving the HMW fraction in 0.1 M acetic acid; urea used to dissolve the HMW prolamins inhibited the reaction, in some cases at the low concentration of 0.06 M. A study of the comparative reactions of other cereal prolamins was made. ‘D’ hordein, the homologous HMW protein of barley, showed less reaction, which was more inhibited by urea than the wheat subunits. Some ω-gliadins from the wheat cultivars Chinese Spring and Cheyenne reacted more strongly than the injected fraction and there was less inhibition by urea. A-, β- and γ3 of wheat also reacted with the antiserum while a secalin of rye of Mr 40000 gave a weak reaction. RESP-919

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 127 open-angle glaucoma loci with consistent effect across ancestries

10.1038/s41467-020-20851-4Nature Communications121125