19,714 research outputs found
The cuticle
The nematode cuticle is an extremely flexible and resilient exoskeleton that permits locomotion via
attachment to muscle, confers environmental protection and allows growth by molting. It is synthesised five
times, once in the embryo and subsequently at the end of each larval stage prior to molting. It is a highly
structured extra-cellular matrix (ECM), composed predominantly of cross-linked collagens, additional
insoluble proteins termed cuticlins, associated glycoproteins and lipids. The cuticle collagens are encoded by a large gene family that are subject to strict patterns of temporal regulation. Cuticle collagen biosynthesis
involves numerous co- and post-translational modification, processing, secretion and cross-linking steps that
in turn are catalysed by specific enzymes and chaperones. Mutations in individual collagen genes and their
biosynthetic pathway components can result in a range of defects from abnormal morphology (dumpy and
blister) to embryonic and larval death, confirming an essential role for this structure and highlighting its
potential as an ECM experimental model system
Optimizing the Throughput of Particulate Streams Subject to Blocking
Filtration, flow in narrow channels and traffic flow are examples of
processes subject to blocking when the channel conveying the particles becomes
too crowded. If the blockage is temporary, which means that after a finite time
the channel is flushed and reopened, one expects to observe a maximum
throughput for a finite intensity of entering particles. We investigate this
phenomenon by introducing a queueing theory inspired, circular Markov model.
Particles enter a channel with intensity and exit at a rate . If
particles are present at the same time in the channel, the system becomes
blocked and no more particles can enter until the blockage is cleared after an
exponentially distributed time with rate . We obtain an exact expression
for the steady state throughput (including the exiting blocked particles) for
all values of . For we show that the throughput assumes a maximum
value for finite if . The time-dependent throughput
either monotonically approaches the steady state value, or reaches a maximum
value at finite time. We demonstrate that, in the steady state, this model can
be mapped to a previously introduced non-Markovian model with fixed transit and
blockage times.
We also examine an irreversible, non-Markovian blockage process with constant
transit time exposed to an entering flux of fixed intensity for a finite time
and we show that the first and second moments of the number of exiting
particles are maximized for a finite intensity.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figure
The astacin metalloprotease moulting enzyme NAS-36 is required for normal cuticle ecdysis in free-living and parasitic nematodes
Nematodes represent one of the most abundant and species-rich groups of animals on the planet, with parasitic species causing chronic, debilitating infections in both livestock and humans worldwide. The prevalence and success of the nematodes is a direct consequence of the exceptionally protective properties of their cuticle. The synthesis of this cuticle is a complex multi-step process, which is repeated 4 times from hatchling to adult and has been investigated in detail in the free-living nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. This process is known as moulting and involves numerous enzymes in the synthesis and degradation of the collagenous matrix. The nas-36 and nas-37 genes in C. elegans encode functionally conserved enzymes of the astacin metalloprotease family which, when mutated, result in a phenotype associated with the late-stage moulting defects, namely the inability to remove the preceding cuticle. Extensive genome searches in the gastrointestinal nematode of sheep, Haemonchus contortus, and in the filarial nematode of humans, Brugia malayi, identified NAS-36 but not NAS-37 homologues. Significantly, the nas-36 gene from B. malayi could successfully complement the moult defects associated with C. elegans nas-36, nas-37 and nas-36/nas-37 double mutants, suggesting a conserved function for NAS-36 between these diverse nematode species. This conservation between species was further indicated when the recombinant enzymes demonstrated a similar range of inhibitable metalloprotease activities
Superbursts from Strange Stars
Recent models of carbon ignition on accreting neutron stars predict
superburst ignition depths that are an order of magnitude larger than observed.
We explore a possible solution to this problem, that the compact stars in low
mass X-ray binaries that have shown superbursts are in fact strange stars with
a crust of normal matter. We calculate the properties of superbursts on strange
stars, and the resulting constraints on the properties of strange quark matter.
We show that the observed ignition conditions exclude fast neutrino emission in
the quark core, for example by the direct Urca process, which implies that
strange quark matter at stellar densities should be in a color superconducting
state. For slow neutrino emission in the quark matter core, we find that
reproducing superburst properties requires a definite relation between three
poorly constrained properties of strange quark matter: its thermal
conductivity, its slow neutrino emissivity and the energy released by
converting a nucleon into strange quark matter.Comment: 4 pages, submitted to Ap. J. Let
Relativistic Effects on the Appearance of a Clothed Black Hole
For an accretion disk around a black hole, the strong relativistic effects
affect every aspect of the radiation from the disk, including its spectrum,
light-curve, and image. This work investigates in detail how the images of a
thin disk around a black hole will be distorted, and what the observer will see
from different viewing angles and in different energy bands.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. Based on the poster presented at the Sixth
Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics (Xi'an, China, July 11-17,
2002). Color versions of figures are given separatel
An XMM-Newton observation of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy, Markarian 896
XMM-Newton observations of the NLS1 Markarian 896 are presented. Over the
2-10 keV band, an iron emission line, close to 6.4 keV, is seen. The line is
just resolved and has an equivalent width of ~170 eV. The broad-band spectrum
is well modelled by a power law slope of gamma ~ 2.03, together with two
blackbody components to fit the soft X-ray excess. Using a more physical
two-temperature Comptonisation model, a good fit is obtained for an input
photon distribution of kT ~ 60eV and Comptonising electron temperatures of ~0.3
and 200 keV. The soft excess cannot be explained purely through the
reprocessing of a hard X-ray continuum by an ionised disc reflector.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted by MNRA
Resolving the large scale spectral variability of the luminous Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0419-577: Evidence for a new emission component and absorption by cold dense matter
An XMM-Newton observation of the luminous Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0419-577 in
September 2002, when the source was in an extreme low-flux state, found a very
hard X-ray spectrum at 1-10 keV with a strong soft excess below ~1 keV.
Comparison with an earlier XMM-Newton observation when 1H 0419-577 was `X-ray
bright' indicated the dominant spectral variability was due to a steep power
law or cool Comptonised thermal emission. Four further XMM-Newton observations,
with 1H 0419-577 in intermediate flux states, now support that conclusion,
while we also find the variable emission component in intermediate state
difference spectra to be strongly modified by absorption in low ionisation
matter. The variable `soft excess' then appears to be an artefact of absorption
of the underlying continuum while the `core' soft emission can be attributed to
recombination in an extended region of more highly ionised gas. We note the
wider implications of finding substantial cold dense matter overlying (or
embedded in) the X-ray continuum source in a luminous Seyfert 1 galaxy.Comment: 34 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Ap
A search for thermal X-ray signatures in Gamma-Ray Bursts I: Swift bursts with optical supernovae
The X-ray spectra of Gamma-Ray Bursts can generally be described by an
absorbed power law. The landmark discovery of thermal X-ray emission in
addition to the power law in the unusual GRB 060218, followed by a similar
discovery in GRB 100316D, showed that during the first thousand seconds after
trigger the soft X-ray spectra can be complex. Both the origin and prevalence
of such spectral components still evade understanding, particularly after the
discovery of thermal X-ray emission in the classical GRB 090618. Possibly most
importantly, these three objects are all associated with optical supernovae,
begging the question of whether the thermal X-ray components could be a result
of the GRB-SN connection, possibly in the shock breakout. We therefore
performed a search for blackbody components in the early Swift X-ray spectra of
11 GRBs that have or may have associated optical supernovae, accurately
recovering the thermal components reported in the literature for GRBs 060218,
090618 and 100316D. We present the discovery of a cooling blackbody in GRB
101219B/SN2010ma, and in four further GRB-SNe we find an improvement in the fit
with a blackbody which we deem possible blackbody candidates due to
case-specific caveats. All the possible new blackbody components we report lie
at the high end of the luminosity and radius distribution. GRB 101219B appears
to bridge the gap between the low-luminosity and the classical GRB-SNe with
thermal emission, and following the blackbody evolution we derive an expansion
velocity for this source of order 0.4c. We discuss potential origins for the
thermal X-ray emission in our sample, including a cocoon model which we find
can accommodate the more extreme physical parameters implied by many of our
model fits.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, accepted for MNRA
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