285 research outputs found
Effects of genetic and agronomic factors on grain composition in oats
The effects of genetic variability and agronomic practises on the chemical compounds of the grain were evaluated in a set of oat cultivars (16 naked and four husked) grown in different experiments in the years 2004–2008. In the first experiment, carried out for two years, β-glucan and Total Dietary Fibre (TDF) from eight oat cultivars, grown under three different levels of nitrogen fertilization and two seed doses, were considered. The second experiment, involving 12 cultivars for two years, explored the variation of β-glucan solubility and further characterized six cultivars for the content of TDF and arabinoxylans. In both experiments, genotype was found to exert the largest effect on the grain composition; nitrogen levels and seed doses had positive significant effects on protein and β-glucan contents, but did not affect fibre content. Among the naked cultivars, Irina, Abel, Luna, Hendon and Expression showed a good ability to accumulate the examined grain compounds. However, in general, the highest contents of protein and β-glucan were found in the groats of husked cultivars, suggesting that specific breeding programs are a crucial step to identify the suitable naked oat genotypes to produce foods of high nutritional value
Two-dimensional lattice-fluid model with water-like anomalies
We investigate a lattice-fluid model defined on a two-dimensional triangular
lattice, with the aim of reproducing qualitatively some anomalous properties of
water. Model molecules are of the "Mercedes Benz" type, i.e., they possess a D3
(equilateral triangle) symmetry, with three bonding arms. Bond formation
depends both on orientation and local density. We work out phase diagrams,
response functions, and stability limits for the liquid phase, making use of a
generalized first order approximation on a triangle cluster, whose accuracy is
verified, in some cases, by Monte Carlo simulations. The phase diagram displays
one ordered (solid) phase which is less dense than the liquid one. At fixed
pressure the liquid phase response functions show the typical anomalous
behavior observed in liquid water, while, in the supercooled region, a
reentrant spinodal is observed.Comment: 9 pages, 1 table, 7 figure
The vertex with arbitrary gluon virtualities in the perturbative QCD hard scattering approach
We study the vertex for arbitrary gluon virtualities in
the time-like and space-like regions, using the perturbative QCD hard
scattering approach and an input wave-function of the -meson
consistent with the measured transition form
factor. The contribution of the gluonic content of the -meson is
taken into account, enhancing the form factor over the entire virtuality
considered. However, data on the electromagnetic transition form factor of the
-meson is not sufficient to quantify the gluonic enhancement. We
also study the effect of the transverse momenta of the partons in the
-meson on the vertex, using the modified
hard scattering approach based on Sudakov formalism. Analytic expressions for
the vertex are presented in limiting kinematic regions
and parametrizations are given satisfying the QCD anomaly, for real gluons, and
perturbative QCD behavior for large gluon virtualities, in both the time-like
and space-like regions. Our results have implications for the inclusive decay
and exclusive decays, such as , and in hadronic production processes .Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures (requires revtex4, amssymb, epsf); several typos
corrected, this version now identical to the one accepted for publication in
Phys. Rev.
Neuroblastoma-secreted exosomes carrying miR‐375 promote osteogenic differentiation of bone-marrow mesenchymal stromal cells
Bone marrow (BM) is the major target organ for neuroblastoma (NB) metastasis and its involvement is associated with poor outcome. Yet, the mechanism by which NB cells invade BM is largely unknown. Tumour microenvironment represents a key element in tumour progression and mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been recognized as a fundamental part of the associated tumour stroma. Here, we show that BM-MSCs isolated from NB patients with BM involvement exhibit a greater osteogenic potential than MSCs from non-infiltrated BM. We show that BM metastasis-derived NB-cell lines secrete higher levels of exosomal miR-375, which promotes osteogenic differentiation in MSCs. Of note, clinical data demonstrate that high level of miR-375 correlates with BM metastasis in NB patients. Our findings suggest, indeed, a potential role for exosomal miR-375 in determining a favourable microenvironment in BM to promote metastatic progression. MiR-375 may, thus, represent a novel biomarker and a potential target for NB patients with BM involvement
Interaction between SNAI2 and MYOD enhances oncogenesis and suppresses differentiation in Fusion Negative Rhabdomyosarcoma
Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive pediatric malignancy of the muscle, that includes Fusion Positive (FP)-RMS harboring PAX3/7-FOXO1 and Fusion Negative (FN)-RMS commonly with RAS pathway mutations. RMS express myogenic master transcription factors MYOD and MYOG yet are unable to terminally differentiate. Here, we report that SNAI2 is highly expressed in FN-RMS, is oncogenic, blocks myogenic differentiation, and promotes growth. MYOD activates SNAI2 transcription via super enhancers with striped 3D contact architecture. Genome wide chromatin binding analysis demonstrates that SNAI2 preferentially binds enhancer elements and competes with MYOD at a subset of myogenic enhancers required for terminal differentiation. SNAI2 also suppresses expression of a muscle differentiation program modulated by MYOG, MEF2, and CDKN1A. Further, RAS/MEK-signaling modulates SNAI2 levels and binding to chromatin, suggesting that the differentiation blockade by oncogenic RAS is mediated in part by SNAI2. Thus, an interplay between SNAI2, MYOD, and RAS prevents myogenic differentiation and promotes tumorigenesis
Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set
We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s
using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays
in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at
production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton
collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment
at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity.
We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the
B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2,
-1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in
agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model
value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +-
0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +-
0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by
other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012
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