4,461 research outputs found
Molecular and functional characterization of gap junctions in the avian inner ear.
To analyze the fundamental role of gap junctions in the vertebrate inner ear, we examined molecular and functional characteristics of gap junctional communication (GJC) in the auditory and vestibular system of the chicken. By screening inner ear tissues for connexin isoforms using degenerate reverse transcription-PCR, we identified, in addition to chicken Cx43 (cCx43) and the inner-ear-specific cCx30, an as yet uncharacterized connexin predicted to be the ortholog of the mammalian Cx26. In situ hybridization indicated that cCx30 and cCx26 transcripts were both widely expressed in the cochlear duct and utricle in an overlapping pattern, suggesting coexpression of these isoforms similar to that in the mammalian inner ear. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that cCx43 was present in gap junctions connecting supporting cells of the basilar papilla, in which its immunofluorescence colocalized with that of cCx30. However, cCx43 was absent from supporting cell gap junctions of the utricular macula. This variation in the molecular composition of gap junction plaques coincided with differences in the functional properties of GJC between the auditory and vestibular sensory epithelia. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, adapted to examine the diffusion of calcein in inner ear explants, revealed asymmetric communication pathways among supporting cells in the basilar papilla but not in the utricular macula. This study supports the hypothesis that the coexpression of Cx26/Cx30 is unique to gap junctions in the vertebrate inner ear. Furthermore, it demonstrates asymmetric GJC within the supporting cell population of the auditory sensory epithelium, which might mediate potassium cycling and/or intercellular signaling
Extended Scaling for the high dimension and square lattice Ising Ferromagnets
In the high dimension (mean field) limit the susceptibility and the second
moment correlation length of the Ising ferromagnet depend on temperature as
chi(T)=tau^{-1} and xi(T)=T^{-1/2}tau^{-1/2} exactly over the entire
temperature range above the critical temperature T_c, with the scaling variable
tau=(T-T_c)/T. For finite dimension ferromagnets temperature dependent
effective exponents can be defined over all T using the same expressions. For
the canonical two dimensional square lattice Ising ferromagnet it is shown that
compact "extended scaling" expressions analogous to the high dimensional limit
forms give accurate approximations to the true temperature dependencies, again
over the entire temperature range from T_c to infinity. Within this approach
there is no cross-over temperature in finite dimensions above which
mean-field-like behavior sets in.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
On the non-abelian Brumer-Stark conjecture and the equivariant Iwasawa main conjecture
We show that for an odd prime p, the p-primary parts of refinements of the
(imprimitive) non-abelian Brumer and Brumer-Stark conjectures are implied by
the equivariant Iwasawa main conjecture (EIMC) for totally real fields.
Crucially, this result does not depend on the vanishing of the relevant Iwasawa
mu-invariant. In combination with the authors' previous work on the EIMC, this
leads to unconditional proofs of the non-abelian Brumer and Brumer-Stark
conjectures in many new cases.Comment: 33 pages; to appear in Mathematische Zeitschrift; v3 many minor
updates including new title; v2 some cohomological arguments simplified; v1
is a revised version of the second half of arXiv:1408.4934v
Experimental mathematics on the magnetic susceptibility of the square lattice Ising model
We calculate very long low- and high-temperature series for the
susceptibility of the square lattice Ising model as well as very long
series for the five-particle contribution and six-particle
contribution . These calculations have been made possible by the
use of highly optimized polynomial time modular algorithms and a total of more
than 150000 CPU hours on computer clusters. For 10000 terms of the
series are calculated {\it modulo} a single prime, and have been used to find
the linear ODE satisfied by {\it modulo} a prime.
A diff-Pad\'e analysis of 2000 terms series for and
confirms to a very high degree of confidence previous conjectures about the
location and strength of the singularities of the -particle components of
the susceptibility, up to a small set of ``additional'' singularities. We find
the presence of singularities at for the linear ODE of ,
and for the ODE of , which are {\it not} singularities
of the ``physical'' and that is to say the
series-solutions of the ODE's which are analytic at .
Furthermore, analysis of the long series for (and )
combined with the corresponding long series for the full susceptibility
yields previously conjectured singularities in some , .
We also present a mechanism of resummation of the logarithmic singularities
of the leading to the known power-law critical behaviour occurring
in the full , and perform a power spectrum analysis giving strong
arguments in favor of the existence of a natural boundary for the full
susceptibility .Comment: 54 pages, 2 figure
Renormalised four-point coupling constant in the three-dimensional O(N) model with N=0
We simulate self-avoiding walks on a cubic lattice and determine the second
virial coefficient for walks of different lengths. This allows us to determine
the critical value of the renormalized four-point coupling constant in the
three-dimensional N-vector universality class for N=0. We obtain g* =
1.4005(5), where g is normalized so that the three-dimensional
field-theoretical beta-function behaves as \beta(g) = - g + g^2 for small g. As
a byproduct, we also obtain precise estimates of the interpenetration ratio
Psi*, Psi* = 0.24685(11), and of the exponent \nu, \nu = 0.5876(2).Comment: 16 page
Color-superconductivity in the strong-coupling regime of Landau gauge QCD
The chirally unbroken and the superconducting 2SC and CFL phases are
investigated in the chiral limit within a Dyson-Schwinger approach for the
quark propagator in QCD. The hierarchy of Green's functions is truncated such
that at vanishing density known results for the vacuum and at asymptotically
high densities the corresponding weak-coupling expressions are recovered. The
anomalous dimensions of the gap functions are analytically calculated. Based on
the quark propagator the phase structure is studied, and results for the gap
functions, occupation numbers, coherence lengths and pressure differences are
given and compared with the corresponding expressions in the weak-coupling
regime. At moderate chemical potentials the quasiparticle pairing gaps are
several times larger than the extrapolated weak-coupling results.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures; v2: one reference adde
The diagonal Ising susceptibility
We use the recently derived form factor expansions of the diagonal two-point
correlation function of the square Ising model to study the susceptibility for
a magnetic field applied only to one diagonal of the lattice, for the isotropic
Ising model.
We exactly evaluate the one and two particle contributions
and of the corresponding susceptibility, and obtain linear
differential equations for the three and four particle contributions, as well
as the five particle contribution , but only modulo a given
prime. We use these exact linear differential equations to show that, not only
the russian-doll structure, but also the direct sum structure on the linear
differential operators for the -particle contributions are
quite directly inherited from the direct sum structure on the form factors .
We show that the particle contributions have their
singularities at roots of unity. These singularities become dense on the unit
circle as .Comment: 18 page
Quantum statistics in complex networks
In this work we discuss the symmetric construction of bosonic and fermionic
networks and we present a case of a network showing a mixed quantum statistics.
This model takes into account the different nature of nodes, described by a
random parameter that we call energy, and includes rewiring of the links. The
system described by the mixed statistics is an inhomogemeous system formed by
two class of nodes. In fact there is a threshold energy such that
nodes with lower energy increase their connectivity
while nodes with higher energy decrease their
connectivity in time.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Identification of cis-acting determinants mediating the unconventional secretion of tau.
The deposition of tau aggregates throughout the brain is a pathological characteristic within a group of neurodegenerative diseases collectively termed tauopathies, which includes Alzheimer's disease. While recent findings suggest the involvement of unconventional secretory pathways driving tau into the extracellular space and mediating the propagation of the disease-associated pathology, many of the mechanistic details governing this process remain elusive. In the current study, we provide an in-depth characterization of the unconventional secretory pathway of tau and identify novel molecular determinants that are required for this process. Here, using Drosophila models of tauopathy, we correlate the hyperphosphorylation and aggregation state of tau with the disease-related neurotoxicity. These newly established systems recapitulate all the previously identified hallmarks of tau secretion, including the contribution of tau hyperphosphorylation as well as the requirement for PI(4,5)P2 triggering the direct translocation of tau. Using a series of cellular assays, we demonstrate that both the sulfated proteoglycans on the cell surface and the correct orientation of the protein at the inner plasma membrane leaflet are critical determinants of this process. Finally, we identify two cysteine residues within the microtubule binding repeat domain as novel cis-elements that are important for both unconventional secretion and trans-cellular propagation of tau
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