All-sky search for gravitational-wave bursts in the second joint LIGO-Virgo run

We present results from a search for gravitational-wave bursts in the data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010: data are analyzed when at least two of the three LIGO-Virgo detectors are in coincident operation, with a total observation time of 207 days. The analysis searches for transients of duration < 1 s over the frequency band 64-5000 Hz, without other assumptions on the signal waveform, polarization, direction or occurrence time. All identified events are consistent with the expected accidental background. We set frequentist upper limits on the rate of gravitational-wave bursts by combining this search with the previous LIGO-Virgo search on the data collected between November 2005 and October 2007. The upper limit on the rate of strong gravitational-wave bursts at the Earth is 1.3 events per year at 90% confidence. We also present upper limits on source rate density per year and Mpc^3 for sample populations of standard-candle sources. As in the previous joint run, typical sensitivities of the search in terms of the root-sum-squared strain amplitude for these waveforms lie in the range 5 10^-22 Hz^-1/2 to 1 10^-20 Hz^-1/2. The combination of the two joint runs entails the most sensitive all-sky search for generic gravitational-wave bursts and synthesizes the results achieved by the initial generation of interferometric detectors.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures: data for plots and archived public version at https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=70814&version=19, see also the public announcement at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S6BurstAllSky

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Chromatin remodeling by the SWI/SNF-like BAF complex and STAT4 activation synergistically induce IL-12Rbeta2 expression during human Th1 cell differentiation.

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is a key cytokine for the development of T helper type 1 (Th1) responses; however, naive CD4(+) T cells do not express IL-12Rbeta2, and are therefore unresponsive to IL-12. We have examined the mechanisms that control Th1-specific expression of the human IL-12Rbeta2 gene at early time points after T-cell stimulation. We have identified a Th1-specific enhancer element that binds signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) in vivo in developing Th1 but not Th2 cells. T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling induced histone hyperacetylation and recruitment of BRG1, the ATPase subunit of the SWI/SNF-like BAF chromatin remodeling complex, to the IL-12Rbeta2 regulatory regions and was associated with low-level gene transcription at the IL-12Rbeta2 locus. However, high-level IL-12Rbeta2 expression required TCR triggering in the presence of IL-12. Our results indicate a synergistic role of TCR-induced chromatin remodeling and cytokine-induced STAT4 activation to direct IL-12Rbeta2 expression during Th1 cell development

The Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovary Axis

Human reproduction depends on an intact hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) has been recognized as the central regulator of the production and release of the pituitary gonadotropins that, in turn, regulate the gonadal functions and the production of sex steroids. The peculiar development, distribution, and episodic activity of GnRH-producing neurons have solicited an interdisciplinary interest on the etiopathogenesis of several reproductive diseases. Moreover, growing knowledge on a new more complex interplay among integrative centers (hypothalamus and pituitary) and the effector (ovary) open to a new perception of the mechanisms controlling the reproductive axis