10,079 research outputs found
Positional changes of pericentromeric heterochromatin and nucleoli in postmitotic Purkinje cells during murine cerebellum development
Previous studies revealed changes of pericentromeric heterochromatin arrangements in postmitotic Purkinje cells (PCs) during postnatal development in the mouse cerebellum (Manuelidis, 1985; Martou and De Boni, 2000). Here, we performed vibratome sections of mouse cerebellum (vermis) at P0 (day of birth), at various stages of the postnatal development (P2-P21), as well as in very young (P28) and 17-months-old adults. FISH was carried out on these sections with major mouse satellite DNA in combination with immunostaining of the nucleolar protein B23 (nucleophosmin). Laser confocal microscopy, 3D reconstructions and quantitative image analysis were employed to describe changes in the number and topology of chromocenters and nucleoli. At all stages of postnatal PC development heterochromatin clusters were typically associated either with nucleoli or with the nuclear periphery, while non-associated clusters were rare (<1% at P0 to P21 and about 3% in adult stages). At P0, about 2-4 nucleoli and 7-8 pericentromeric heterochromatin clusters were variably located within PC nuclei. The relative volume of heterochromatin clusters associated with the nucleoli (about 50%) was roughly equal to the volume of clusters associated with the nuclear periphery. Positional changes of both nucleoli and centromeres towards the nuclear center occurred between P0 and P6. At P6 the average number of chromocenters per PC nucleus had decreased to about five. In agreement with previous studies, one or occasionally two nucleoli were noted at the nuclear center surrounded by major perinucleolar heterochromatin clusters. The relative volume of these perinucleolar clusters increased to about 84%, while the volume of clusters in the nuclear periphery decreased to about 15%. At subsequent postnatal stages, the arrangement of most pericentromeric heterochromatin around a central nucleolus was maintained. In adult animals, however, we observed a partial redistribution of heterochromatin towards the nuclear periphery. The average total number of pericentromeric heterochromatin signals increased again to about ten. The volume of heterochromatin associated with the nuclear periphery roughly doubled (30%), while the volume of the perinucleolar heterochromatin decreased correspondingly. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel
Cluster mergers, core oscillations, and cold fronts
We use numerical simulations with hydrodynamics to demonstrate that a class
of cold fronts in galaxy clusters can be attributed to oscillations of the dark
matter distribution. The oscillations are initiated by the off-axis passage of
a low-mass substructure. From the simulations, we derive three observable
morphological features indicative of oscillations: 1) The existence of
compressed isophotes; 2) The regions of compression must be alternate (opposite
and staggered) and lie on an axis passing through the center of the cluster; 3)
The gradient of each compression region must pass through the center of the
cluster. Four of six clusters reported in the literature to have cold fronts
have morphologies consistent with the presence of oscillations. The clusters
with oscillations are A496, A1795, A2142, and RX J1720.1+2638. Galaxy clusters
A2256 and A3667 are not consistent so the cold fronts are interpreted as group
remnants. The oscillations may be able to provide sufficient energy to solve
the cooling-flow problem and, importantly, provide it over an extended
duration.Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 11 pages, 9 figure
The structure of Abell 1351: a bimodal galaxy cluster with peculiar diffuse radio emission
We aim to review the internal structure and dynamics of the Abell 1351
cluster, shown to host a radio halo with a quite irregular shape. Our analysis
is based on radial velocity data for 135 galaxies obtained at the Telescopio
Nazionale Galileo. We combine galaxy velocities and positions to select 95
cluster galaxy members and analyse the internal dynamics of the whole cluster.
We also examine X-ray data retrieved from Chandra and XMM archives. We measure
the cluster redshift, =0.325, the line-of-sight (LOS) velocity dispersion,
\sigma_v~1500 km/s, and the X-ray temperature, kT~9 keV. From both X-ray and
optical data independently, we estimate a large cluster mass, in the 1--4
M range. We attribute the extremely high value of \sigma_v to
the bimodality in the velocity distribution. We find evidence of a significant
velocity gradient and optical 3D substructure. The X-ray analysis also shows
many features in favour of a complex cluster structure, probably supporting an
ongoing merger of substructures in Abell 1351. The observational scenario
agrees with the presence of two main subclusters in the northern region, each
with its brightest galaxy (BCG1 and BCG2), detected as the two most important
X-ray substructures with a rest-frame LOS velocity difference of \Delta v~2500
km/s (in the rest frame) and probably being in large part aligned with the LOS.
We conclude that Abell 1351 is a massive merging cluster. The details of the
cluster structure allow us to interpret the quite asymmetric radio halo as a
`normal' halo plus a southern relic, strongly supporting a previous suggestion
based only on inspection of radio and preliminary X-ray data.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl
The Conserved G-Protein Coupled Receptor FSHR-1 Regulates Protective Host Responses to Infection and Oxidative Stress
The innate immune system’s ability to sense an infection is critical so that it can rapidly respond if pathogenic microorganisms threaten the host, but otherwise maintain a quiescent baseline state to avoid causing damage to the host or to commensal microorganisms. One important mechanism for discriminating between pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria is the recognition of cellular damage caused by a pathogen during the course of infection. InCaenorhabditis elegans, the conserved G-protein coupled receptor FSHR-1 is an important constituent of the innate immune response. FSHR-1 activates the expression of antimicrobial infection response genes in infected worms and delays accumulation of the ingested pathogenPseudomonas aeruginosa. FSHR-1 is central not only to the worm’s survival of infection by multiple pathogens, but also to the worm’s survival of xenobiotic cadmium and oxidative stresses. Infected worms produce reactive oxygen species to fight off the pathogens; FSHR-1 is required at the site of infection for the expression of detoxifying genes that protect the host from collateral damage caused by this defense response. Finally, the FSHR-1 pathway is important for the ability of worms to discriminate pathogenic from benign bacteria and subsequently initiate an aversive learning program that promotes selective pathogen avoidance
Supertubes and special holonomy
We obtain a -supersymmetric 6-brane solution of IIA Supergravity by
T-dualizing the supertube recently found. The resulting electric
charge is related to the original -brane charge. The uplifted solution to
eleven dimensions results to be a purely geometrical configuration, which can
be interpreted as a bound state of a Taub-NUT space and a pp-wave. Being the
non trivial part of the metric pseudo-Riemannian, the resulting reduced
holonomy group is non-compact and locally isomorphic to a semidirect product of
an Abelian four dimensional group and SU(2).Comment: 11 pages, latex, no figure
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