1,275 research outputs found
Fluctuations, Saturation, and Diffractive Excitation in High Energy Collisions
Diffractive excitation is usually described by the Good--Walker formalism for
low masses, and by the triple-Regge formalism for high masses. In the
Good--Walker formalism the cross section is determined by the fluctuations in
the interaction. In this paper we show that by taking the fluctuations in the
BFKL ladder into account, it is possible to describe both low and high mass
excitation by the Good--Walker mechanism. In high energy collisions the
fluctuations are strongly suppressed by saturation, which implies that pomeron
exchange does not factorise between DIS and collisions. The Dipole Cascade
Model reproduces the expected triple-Regge form for the bare pomeron, and the
triple-pomeron coupling is estimated.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure
Decorrelating Topology with HMC
The investigation of the decorrelation efficiency of the HMC algorithm with
respect to vacuum topology is a prerequisite for trustworthy full QCD
simulations, in particular for the computation of topology sensitive
quantities. We demonstrate that for mpi/mrho ratios <= 0.69 sufficient
tunneling between the topological sectors can be achieved, for two flavours of
dynamical Wilson fermions close to the scaling region beta=5.6. Our results are
based on time series of length 5000 trajectories.Comment: change of comments: LATTICE98(confine
T160âphosphorylated CDK2 defines threshold for HGFâdependent proliferation in primary hepatocytes
Liver regeneration is a tightly controlled process mainly achieved by proliferation of usually quiescent hepatocytes. The specific molecular mechanisms ensuring cell division only in response to proliferative signals such as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) are not fully understood. Here, we combined quantitative time-resolved analysis of primary mouse hepatocyte proliferation at the single cell and at the population level with mathematical modeling. We showed that numerous G1/S transition components are activated upon hepatocyte isolation whereas DNA replication only occurs upon additional HGF stimulation. In response to HGF, Cyclin:CDK complex formation was increased, p21 rather than p27 was regulated, and Rb expression was enhanced. Quantification of protein levels at the restriction point showed an excess of CDK2 over CDK4 and limiting amounts of the transcription factor E2F-1. Analysis with our mathematical model revealed that T160 phosphorylation of CDK2 correlated best with growth factor-dependent proliferation, which we validated experimentally on both the population and the single cell level. In conclusion, we identified CDK2 phosphorylation as a gate-keeping mechanism to maintain hepatocyte quiescence in the absence of HGF
An attempt to understand exclusive pi+ electroproduction
Hard exclusive pi+ electroproduction is investigated within the handbag
approach. The prominent role of the pion-pole contribution is demonstrated. It
is also shown that the experimental data require a twist-3 effect which ensues
from the helicity-flip generalized parton distribution H_T and the twist-3 pion
wave function. The results calculated from this handbag approach are compared
in detail with the experimental data on cross sections and spin asymmetries
measured with a polarized target. It is also commented on consequences of this
approach for exclusive \pi^0 and vector-meson electroproduction.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures, using Latex, a number of additional comments
have been included in the text, e.g. in paragraph above (3) or at end of
sect.
Perturbation with Intrabodies Reveals That Calpain Cleavage Is Required for Degradation of Huntingtin Exon 1
Background:
Proteolytic processing of mutant huntingtin (mHtt), the protein that causes Huntington's disease (HD), is critical for mHtt toxicity and disease progression. mHtt contains several caspase and calpain cleavage sites that generate N-terminal fragments that are more toxic than full-length mHtt. Further processing is then required for the degradation of these fragments, which in turn, reduces toxicity. This unknown, secondary degradative process represents a promising therapeutic target for HD.
Methodology/Principal Findings: We have used intrabodies, intracellularly expressed antibody fragments, to gain insight into the mechanism of mutant huntingtin exon 1 (mHDx-1) clearance. Happ1, an intrabody recognizing the proline-rich region of mHDx-1, reduces the level of soluble mHDx-1 by increasing clearance. While proteasome and macroautophagy inhibitors reduce turnover of mHDx-1, Happ1 is still able to reduce mHDx-1 under these conditions, indicating Happ1-accelerated mHDx-1 clearance does not rely on these processes. In contrast, a calpain inhibitor or an inhibitor of lysosomal pH block Happ1-mediated acceleration of mHDx-1 clearance. These results suggest that mHDx-1 is cleaved by calpain, likely followed by lysosomal degradation and this process regulates the turnover rate of mHDx-1. Sequence analysis identifies amino acid (AA) 15 as a potential calpain cleavage site. Calpain cleavage of recombinant mHDx-1 in vitro yields fragments of sizes corresponding to this prediction. Moreover, when the site is blocked by binding of another intrabody, V_L12.3, turnover of soluble mHDx-1 in living cells is blocked.
Conclusions/Significance:
These results indicate that calpain-mediated removal of the 15 N-terminal AAs is required for the degradation of mHDx-1, a finding that may have therapeutic implications
Setting upper limits on the strength of periodic gravitational waves from PSR J1939+2134 using the first science data from the GEO 600 and LIGO detectors
Data collected by the GEO 600 and LIGO interferometric gravitational wave detectors during their first observational science run were searched for continuous gravitational waves from the pulsar J1939+2134 at twice its rotation frequency. Two independent analysis methods were used and are demonstrated in this paper: a frequency domain method and a time domain method. Both achieve consistent null results, placing new upper limits on the strength of the pulsar's gravitational wave emission. A model emission mechanism is used to interpret the limits as a constraint on the pulsar's equatorial ellipticity
Swift follow-up observations of candidate gravitational-wave transient events
We present the first multi-wavelength follow-up observations of two candidate
gravitational-wave (GW) transient events recorded by LIGO and Virgo in their
2009-2010 science run. The events were selected with low latency by the network
of GW detectors and their candidate sky locations were observed by the Swift
observatory. Image transient detection was used to analyze the collected
electromagnetic data, which were found to be consistent with background.
Off-line analysis of the GW data alone has also established that the selected
GW events show no evidence of an astrophysical origin; one of them is
consistent with background and the other one was a test, part of a "blind
injection challenge". With this work we demonstrate the feasibility of rapid
follow-ups of GW transients and establish the sensitivity improvement joint
electromagnetic and GW observations could bring. This is a first step toward an
electromagnetic follow-up program in the regime of routine detections with the
advanced GW instruments expected within this decade. In that regime
multi-wavelength observations will play a significant role in completing the
astrophysical identification of GW sources. We present the methods and results
from this first combined analysis and discuss its implications in terms of
sensitivity for the present and future instruments.Comment: Submitted for publication 2012 May 25, accepted 2012 October 25,
published 2012 November 21, in ApJS, 203, 28 (
http://stacks.iop.org/0067-0049/203/28 ); 14 pages, 3 figures, 6 tables;
LIGO-P1100038; Science summary at
http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S6LVSwift/index.php ; Public access
area to figures, tables at
https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p110003
Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase CPK1 Controls Cell Death by In Vivo Phosphorylation of Senescence Master Regulator ORE1
Calcium-regulated protein kinases are key components of intracellular signaling in plants that mediate rapid stress-induced responses to changes in the environment. To identify in vivo phosphorylation substrates of CALCIUM-DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE1 (CPK1), we analyzed the conditional expression of constitutively active CPK1 in conjunction with in vivo phosphoproteomics. We identified Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) ORESARA1 (ORE1), the developmental master regulator of senescence, as a direct CPK1 phosphorylation substrate. CPK1 phosphorylates ORE1 at a hotspot within an intrinsically disordered region. This augments transcriptional activation by ORE1 of its downstream target gene BIFUNCTIONAL NUCLEASE1 (BFN1). Plants that overexpress ORE1, but not an ORE1 variant lacking the CPK1 phosphorylation hotspot, promote early senescence. Furthermore, ORE1 is required for enhanced cell death induced by CPK1 signaling. Our data validate the use of conditional expression of an active enzyme combined with phosphoproteomics to decipher specific kinase target proteins of low abundance, of transient phosphorylation, or in yet-undescribed biological contexts. Here, we have identified that senescence is not just under molecular surveillance manifested by stringent gene regulatory control over ORE1. In addition, the decision to die is superimposed by an additional layer of control toward ORE1 via its posttranslational modification linked to the calcium-regulatory network through CPK1
A Joint Search for Gravitational Wave Bursts with AURIGA and LIGO
The first simultaneous operation of the AURIGA detector and the LIGO
observatory was an opportunity to explore real data, joint analysis methods
between two very different types of gravitational wave detectors: resonant bars
and interferometers. This paper describes a coincident gravitational wave burst
search, where data from the LIGO interferometers are cross-correlated at the
time of AURIGA candidate events to identify coherent transients. The analysis
pipeline is tuned with two thresholds, on the signal-to-noise ratio of AURIGA
candidate events and on the significance of the cross-correlation test in LIGO.
The false alarm rate is estimated by introducing time shifts between data sets
and the network detection efficiency is measured with simulated signals with
power in the narrower AURIGA band. In the absence of a detection, we discuss
how to set an upper limit on the rate of gravitational waves and to interpret
it according to different source models. Due to the short amount of analyzed
data and to the high rate of non-Gaussian transients in the detectors noise at
the time, the relevance of this study is methodological: this was the first
joint search for gravitational wave bursts among detectors with such different
spectral sensitivity and the first opportunity for the resonant and
interferometric communities to unify languages and techniques in the pursuit of
their common goal.Comment: 18 pages, IOP, 12 EPS figure
All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S4 data
We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic
gravitational waves in the frequency range 50-1000 Hz and with the frequency's
time derivative in the range -1.0E-8 Hz/s to zero. Data from the fourth LIGO
science run (S4) have been used in this search. Three different semi-coherent
methods of transforming and summing strain power from Short Fourier Transforms
(SFTs) of the calibrated data have been used. The first, known as "StackSlide",
averages normalized power from each SFT. A "weighted Hough" scheme is also
developed and used, and which also allows for a multi-interferometer search.
The third method, known as "PowerFlux", is a variant of the StackSlide method
in which the power is weighted before summing. In both the weighted Hough and
PowerFlux methods, the weights are chosen according to the noise and detector
antenna-pattern to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. The respective
advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed. Observing no
evidence of periodic gravitational radiation, we report upper limits; we
interpret these as limits on this radiation from isolated rotating neutron
stars. The best population-based upper limit with 95% confidence on the
gravitational-wave strain amplitude, found for simulated sources distributed
isotropically across the sky and with isotropically distributed spin-axes, is
4.28E-24 (near 140 Hz). Strict upper limits are also obtained for small patches
on the sky for best-case and worst-case inclinations of the spin axes.Comment: 39 pages, 41 figures An error was found in the computation of the C
parameter defined in equation 44 which led to its overestimate by 2^(1/4).
The correct values for the multi-interferometer, H1 and L1 analyses are 9.2,
9.7, and 9.3, respectively. Figure 32 has been updated accordingly. None of
the upper limits presented in the paper were affecte
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