8,714 research outputs found
Involvement of Plasmodium falciparum protein kinase CK2 in the chromatin assembly pathway
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protein kinase CK2 is a pleiotropic serine/threonine protein kinase with hundreds of reported substrates, and plays an important role in a number of cellular processes. The cellular functions of <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>CK2 (PfCK2) are unknown. The parasite's genome encodes one catalytic subunit, PfCK2α, which we have previously shown to be essential for completion of the asexual erythrocytic cycle, and two putative regulatory subunits, PfCK2ÎČ1 and PfCK2ÎČ2.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We now show that the genes encoding both regulatory PfCK2 subunits (PfCK2ÎČ1 and PfCK2ÎČ2) cannot be disrupted. Using immunofluorescence and electron microscopy, we examined the intra-erythrocytic stages of transgenic parasite lines expressing hemagglutinin (HA)-tagged catalytic and regulatory subunits (HA-CK2α, HA-PfCK2ÎČ1 or HA-PfCK2ÎČ2), and localized all three subunits to both cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments of the parasite. The same transgenic parasite lines were used to purify PfCK2ÎČ1- and PfCK2ÎČ2-containing complexes, which were analyzed by mass spectrometry. The recovered proteins were unevenly distributed between various pathways, with a large proportion of components of the chromatin assembly pathway being present in both PfCK2ÎČ1 and PfCK2ÎČ2 precipitates, implicating PfCK2 in chromatin dynamics. We also found that chromatin-related substrates such as nucleosome assembly proteins (Naps), histones, and two members of the Alba family are phosphorylated by PfCK2α <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our reverse-genetics data show that each of the two regulatory PfCK2 subunits is required for completion of the asexual erythrocytic cycle. Our interactome study points to an implication of PfCK2 in many cellular pathways, with chromatin dynamics being identified as a major process regulated by PfCK2. This study paves the way for a kinome-wide interactomics-based approach to elucidate protein kinase function in malaria parasites.</p
Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Imaging of SN 1979C and Its Environment
The locations of supernovae in the local stellar and gaseous environment in
galaxies contain important clues to their progenitor stars. As part of a
program to study the environments of supernovae using Hubble Space Telescope
(HST) imaging data, we have examined the environment of the Type II-L SN 1979C
in NGC 4321 (M100). We place more rigorous constraints on the mass of the SN
progenitor, which may have had a mass M \approx 17--18 M_sun. Moreover, we have
recovered and measured the brightness of SN 1979C, m=23.37 in F439W (~B;
m_B(max) = 11.6), 17 years after explosion. .Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, submitted to PAS
P-Type Silicon Strip Sensors for the new CMS Tracker at HL-LHC
The upgrade of the LHC to the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) is expected to increase the LHC design luminosity by an order of magnitude. This will require silicon tracking detectors with a significantly higher radiation hardness. The CMS Tracker Collaboration has conducted an irradiation and measurement campaign to identify suitable silicon sensor materials and strip designs for the future outer tracker at the CMS experiment. Based on these results, the collaboration has chosen to use n-in-p type silicon sensors and focus further investigations on the optimization of that sensor type. This paper describes the main measurement results and conclusions that motivated this decision
Spatially self-similar locally rotationally symmetric perfect fluid models
Einstein's field equations for spatially self-similar locally rotationally
symmetric perfect fluid models are investigated. The field equations are
rewritten as a first order system of autonomous ordinary differential
equations. Dimensionless variables are chosen in such a way that the number of
equations in the coupled system of differential equations is reduced as far as
possible. The system is subsequently analyzed qualitatively for some of the
models. The nature of the singularities occurring in the models is discussed.Comment: 27 pages, pictures available at
ftp://vanosf.physto.se/pub/figures/ssslrs.tar.g
The thermal and two-particle stress-energy must be ill-defined on the 2-d Misner space chronology horizon
We show that an analogue of the (four dimensional) image sum method can be
used to reproduce the results, due to Krasnikov, that for the model of a real
massless scalar field on the initial globally hyperbolic region IGH of
two-dimensional Misner space there exist two-particle and thermal Hadamard
states (built on the conformal vacuum) such that the (expectation value of the
renormalised) stress-energy tensor in these states vanishes on IGH. However, we
shall prove that the conclusions of a general theorem by Kay, Radzikowski and
Wald still apply for these states. That is, in any of these states, for any
point b on the Cauchy horizon and any neighbourhood N of b, there exists at
least one pair of non-null related points (x,x'), with x and x' in the
intersection of IGH with N, such that (a suitably differentiated form of) its
two-point function is singular. (We prove this by showing that the two-point
functions of these states share the same singularities as the conformal vacuum
on which they are built.) In other words, the stress-energy tensor in any of
these states is necessarily ill-defined on the Cauchy horizon.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX, RevTeX, no figure
Segond's fracture: a biomechanical cadaveric study using navigation
Background Segondâs fracture is a well-recognised radiological
sign of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.
While previous studies evaluated the role of the anterolateral
ligament (ALL) and complex injuries on rotational
stability of the knee, there are no studies on the biomechanical
effect of Segondâs fracture in an ACL deficient
knee. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a
Segondâs fracture on knee rotation stability as evaluated by
a navigation system in an ACL deficient knee.
Materials and methods Three different conditions were
tested on seven knee specimens: intact knee, ACL deficient
knee and ACL deficient knee with Segondâs fracture. Static
and dynamic measurements of anterior tibial translation
(ATT) and axial tibial rotation (ATR) were recorded by the
navigation system (2.2 OrthoPilot ACL navigation system
B. Braun Aesculap, Tuttlingen, Germany).
Results Static measurements at 30 showed that the mean
ATT at 30 of knee flexion was 5.1 ± 2.7 mm in the ACL
intact condition, 14.3 ± 3.1 mm after ACL cut
(P = 0.005), and 15.2 ± 3.6 mm after Segondâs fracture
(P = 0.08). The mean ATR at 30 of knee flexion was
20.7 ± 4.8 in the ACL intact condition, 26.9 ± 4.1 in
the ACL deficient knee (P[0.05) and 30.9 ± 3.8 after
Segondâs fracture (P = 0.005). Dynamic measurements
during the pivot-shift showed that the mean ATT was
7.2 ± 2.7 mm in the intact knee, 9.1 ± 3.3 mm in the
ACL deficient knee(P = 0.04) and 9.7 ± 4.3 mm in the
ACL deficient knee with Segondâs fracture (P = 0.07).
The mean ATR was 9.6 ± 1.8 in the intact knee,
12.3 ± 2.3 in the ACL deficient knee (P[0.05) and
19.1 ± 3.1 in the ACL deficient knee with Segondâs
lesion (P = 0.016).
Conclusion An isolated lesion of the ACL only affects
ATT during static and dynamic measurements, while the
addition of Segondâs fracture has a significant effect on
ATR in both static and dynamic execution of the pivot-shift
test, as evaluated with the aid of navigation
Integrability of irrotational silent cosmological models
We revisit the issue of integrability conditions for the irrotational silent
cosmological models. We formulate the problem both in 1+3 covariant and 1+3
orthonormal frame notation, and show there exists a series of constraint
equations that need to be satisfied. These conditions hold identically for
FLRW-linearised silent models, but not in the general exact non-linear case.
Thus there is a linearisation instability, and it is highly unlikely that there
is a large class of silent models. We conjecture that there are no spatially
inhomogeneous solutions with Weyl curvature of Petrov type I, and indicate
further issues that await clarification.Comment: Minor corrections and improvements; 1 new reference; to appear Class.
Quantum Grav.; 16 pages Ioplpp
A new proof of the Bianchi type IX attractor theorem
We consider the dynamics towards the initial singularity of Bianchi type IX
vacuum and orthogonal perfect fluid models with a linear equation of state. The
`Bianchi type IX attractor theorem' states that the past asymptotic behavior of
generic type IX solutions is governed by Bianchi type I and II vacuum states
(Mixmaster attractor). We give a comparatively short and self-contained new
proof of this theorem. The proof we give is interesting in itself, but more
importantly it illustrates and emphasizes that type IX is special, and to some
extent misleading when one considers the broader context of generic models
without symmetries.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure
Spatially self-similar spherically symmetric perfect-fluid models
Einstein's field equations for spatially self-similar spherically symmetric
perfect-fluid models are investigated. The field equations are rewritten as a
first-order system of autonomous differential equations. Dimensionless
variables are chosen in such a way that the number of equations in the coupled
system is reduced as far as possible and so that the reduced phase space
becomes compact and regular. The system is subsequently analysed qualitatively
with the theory of dynamical systems.Comment: 21 pages, 6 eps-figure
Monotonic functions in Bianchi models: Why they exist and how to find them
All rigorous and detailed dynamical results in Bianchi cosmology rest upon
the existence of a hierarchical structure of conserved quantities and monotonic
functions. In this paper we uncover the underlying general mechanism and derive
this hierarchical structure from the scale-automorphism group for an
illustrative example, vacuum and diagonal class A perfect fluid models. First,
kinematically, the scale-automorphism group leads to a reduced dynamical system
that consists of a hierarchy of scale-automorphism invariant sets. Second, we
show that, dynamically, the scale-automorphism group results in
scale-automorphism invariant monotone functions and conserved quantities that
restrict the flow of the reduced dynamical system.Comment: 26 pages, replaced to match published versio
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